#there’s definitely more that can be said about the intersexism in the show but I don’t know how to articulate that as well | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

evidence-based-activism · 5 months ago

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what are your thoughts on the whole situation with the women’s Olympic boxing competitors Andrea Carini and Imane Khelif? I don’t know why feminists are so mad about it, Imane is a cis woman or has an intersex condition, either way she’s not a man.. I thought feminists were supposed to support women winning

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/s/taXu5IeFZc

Hello!

I expect you also sent the ask with the following link: https://www.tumblr.com/assignedmale/757629682153897984?

So, my short answer is that the situation is complex and I don't believe we have enough information to come to a definitive conclusion. In addition, the current cultural context about "trans athletes" is only exacerbating the already complex issue.

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My long answer:

My understanding of the situation is that Khelif is a biologically male individual (i.e., "of the sex" that produces the small gamete/sperm) with a difference/disorder of sexual development (DSD, commonly referred to as "intersex") and was, as a result of this DSD, assigned the female sex at birth.

I want to take a moment here to point out that this is the exact sort of situation the AFAB/AMAB labels were created for. The vast majority of individuals are not "assigned" a sex, they are observed to be a particular sex (OFAB/OMAB?). It is in this sort of situation, where the sex is ambiguous or incorrectly determined that the “assignment” comes into play. Further, I will be referring to all AFAB individuals as "she", given the sociocultural context in which biologically male, AFAB individuals are raised and treated as women.

That being said, the participation of people with DSDs in competitive sports is an ongoing, contentious debate that is both separate from and related to the debate about the inclusion of transwomen in women's sports.

In reference to Khelif, it appears as though the original regulatory agency for boxing (IBA) disqualified her on the basis of her DSD. However, they have lost their position due to (either claims of or actual) corruption. The IOC defaulted to determining eligibility based the sex listed on the athlete's passport, which for Khelif is female (as she is AFAB).

The issue here is we do not know what her DSD is. The IBA claims she has XY chromosomes, but there are multiple conditions this can occur with. For example, as described in [1]:

Individuals with 5ARD2 are "genetic males and exhibit phenotypic male features at puberty and during adulthood". They are "raised as girls during childhood" but "usually develop a near-normal male phenotype" after puberty.

Individuals with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIS) have "no tissue response to testosterone and no masculinization" even at puberty where they can develop a "near-normal female phenotype". This is despite them having testosterone in the "normal adult male range".

Individuals with partial androgen insensitivity syndrome (PAIS) "show a range of phenotypes with progressive masculinization depending on the degree of androgen insensitivity".

Just based on this, the best solution for each of these may be different. For example, it likely would be unfair for someone with 5ARD2 to compete in the female category, although it would be reasonable for them to compete in the male category. On the other hand, it would likely be unfair to prevent someone with CAIS from competing with other women, even with their male-typical testosterone levels.

And speaking of testosterone:

The same article [1] describes how men's testosterone level is substantially greater than women's levels, even in women with PCOS. (If you look at the article, make sure to take note of the log-scale. It highlights that the mean/median level in any male subgroup is more than 5 times the mean/median level in any female subgroup.) But again ... does the amount of testosterone really matter if the tissues don't respond to it (as in CAIS)?

In contrast, this study [2] also takes note that "testosterone exposure at puberty had unique effects such as changing skeletal structure and limb length which estrogen exposure to later in life cannot suppress" in males without a DSD. So, it's unlikely that artificially lowering the testosterone in individuals with 5ARD2 or PAIS (or males without a DSD, as in transwomen) would resolve the advantage.

So ... there are clear and significant differences in testosterone between men and women, even when they have a DSD. But in some cases (e.g., CAIS) the difference may not be relevant, and in other cases (e.g., artificial hormone suppression) a lack of difference may not be relevant.

I mention all of this to highlight how the situation is nuanced, and why I don't think we can make any judgements about Khelif. But I also want to explain how this situation is, in fact, connected to the "trans athlete" debate. It's a matter of public trust —specifically public trust in the athletic regulatory agencies.

Currently, there are regulatory boards that are making decisions that are neither consistent with biological realities [1, 2] or public opinion [3-5]. These decisions allow unambiguously biologically male individuals to compete with women.

Now to be clear, this particular case (Khelif) does not fall into this category. The problem here is one of trust: how can the public (or the other athletes) trust these regulatory agencies to make sound and fair decisions on complex cases involving DSDs if they can't adhere to scientific consensus on far clearer situations?

This is important, because athletes also deserve medical privacy. I am aware that public figures are often expected to give up a degree of their personal privacy rights (although I disagree with the extent of this). However, I expect most people will agree it's unreasonable to expect an athlete with a DSD (or any other medical condition) to release the extensive amounts of personal medical information needed to prove it is fair for them to compete with women. This is why we need trustworthy regulatory agencies, so that the public and other athletes can know that this information was provided and appropriately assessed without it having to be made public.

(And none of this touches on how the current disregard for clarity of language (e.g., claiming transwomen are "biologically female") has created so much confusion that many people seem to believe Khelif was AMAB.)

---

In addition to all of that, the harassment and vitriol being directed at both women in this situation is excessive, unhelpful, and harmful. I've seen racist and misogynistic comments that black women are "more masculine". I've also seen misogynistic comments that Carini is "weak" for exiting the fight. Slurs are being directed at both women, and in neither case is that acceptable.

I understand why the tone of this debate is so hostile, but I do not support the behavior.

For the comic: the claim that "science and experience shows trans athletes on H.R.T are at a disadvantage" is false (see [2]). The rest of the comic neglects to consider the nuance of the situations and the current cultural context. That being said, most people arguing that Khelif shouldn't compete in women's sports are also ignoring the nuance of the situation.

---

All in all, I do not think we currently have enough information to draw any conclusion or make any decisions about this specific situation. That being said, the current sociocultural context has inflamed this debate, created confusion, and eroded public trust in the parties responsible for making the aforementioned decisions. I personally consider that to be the more relevant issue.

References under the cut:

Clark, Richard V., et al. “Large Divergence in Testosterone Concentrations between Men and Women: Frame of Reference for Elite Athletes in Sex‐specific Competition in Sports, a Narrative Review.” Clinical Endocrinology, vol. 90, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 15–22. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1111/cen.13840.

Luu, Tyler. “Should Transgender Athletes Be Allowed to Compete with Cisgender Athletes?” University of Toronto’s Journal of Scientific Innovation, Feb. 2022, pp. 59–65. jps.library.utoronto.ca, https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/jsi/article/view/38091.

Brown, Kim Parker, Juliana Menasce Horowitz and Anna. “Americans’ Complex Views on Gender Identity and Transgender Issues.” Pew Research Center, 28 June 2022, https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2022/06/28/americans-complex-views-on-gender-identity-and-transgender-issues/.

Where Does the British Public Stand on Transgender Rights in 2022? | YouGov. https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/43194-where-does-british-public-stand-transgender-rights-1

Where Americans Stand on 20 Transgender Policy Issues | YouGov. https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/48685-where-americans-stand-on-20-transgender-policy-issues.

#feminism #postmodernism

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wheneverfeasible · 2 months ago

Text

Ruin Me (part 4)

wc: 4.7k || rating: E || story summary: Steve shows up on Eddie’s doorstep with an offer he can’t refuse || chapter summary: Smut ensues, as does a terrifying realization. || tags: omegaverse, alpha!Eddie Munson, omega!Steve Harrington, intersex omegas, explicit content (see ao3 for full tags) || posted in full on ao3

See bottom for notes

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Previously…

“You feel so good, omega,” Eddie whispered with a pant against Steve’s skin, feeling how his own tip was beginning to bead with desire for the boy beneath him. “Gonna knot you up so good. Gonna ruin you for anyone else again ever.”

“Prove it,” Steve growled. “Stop being such a pussy and put your fingers inside me already.”

Who was Eddie to argue with that?

With a sharp bite to Steve’s shoulder just above his clavicle, Eddie let his finger finally sink into the wet heat of Steve’s pussy, causing Steve to let out a deep groan of both pain and pleasure. He pumped his finger in and out just enough to feel the muscles adjust, pleased at how quickly Steve accepted even just this part of him, and then he was adding the second finger soon after.

“Fuck, Eddie,” Steve whined again, hitching his hips up higher to rock against the thrusting fingers. The wet sound of him was evident even over the rain outside, little gasping breaths leaving him as he dropped his head back exposing his throat. “Feels so good, alpha.”

“You touch yourself like this, baby?” Eddie murmured, pressing a kiss to the bright red mark his bite had left behind, moving back to trail soft kisses to Steve’s exposed neck. “You touch yourself and imagine it’s alpha cock instead?”

“Gonna be thinking about yours next time I do,” Steve groaned, which turned into a high keen when Eddie curved his fingers to find that spongy spot inside that caused Steve to tense beneath him.

Smirking, Eddie pulled back to look down at Steve’s face, pressing into that spot over and over again as obvious pleasure jolted through Steve. A quick look down showed even Steve’s cocklet was shiny with arousal, and Eddie was eager to taste it all. He could feel Steve’s muscles coiling, knowing how quickly the first time can go with someone else in charge of your pleasure.

Eddie pulled back, eager for Steve to climax as if it were his own pleasure he was chasing, but wanting to do it right. He ignored Steve’s whine of loss as Eddie pulled his fingers free, knowing he’d have his fingers back in that slick heat soon, and soon after that he’ll have even more.

First, however, he gripped Steve’s hips and scooted back to pull Steve lower on the bed until he was flat on his back, grinning at the small surprised ‘oomph’ Steve let out from the action.

“I’m going to suck your cock now as I spread your pussy with my fingers,” he said conversationally, giving Steve just barely enough time to protest or call out ‘red’ if need be (not that Steve could do more than simply gape at Eddie as his brain obviously tried to process that information) before he was diving in, sliding three fingers deep in Steve’s pussy as he wrapped his lips around Steve’s cocklet and took him whole into his mouth.

Steve cried out at the dual sensations, hips stuttering as though they didn’t know if they wanted to press up into the warmth of Eddie’s mouth or down onto his fingers spreading him open.

Eddie, meanwhile, was quite happy to slurp up the slick that had spread over Steve’s cocklet and was even coating Steve’s thighs until they were just as shiny, letting Eddie know easily that Steve definitely didn’t have a problem with getting appropriately wet. Encased against Steve’s core by his own draping hair, Eddie eagerly breathed in the omega’s enticing sweet musk.

Though Steve’s inner walls were tight around him, he was slick enough to let Eddie’s quickly thrusting fingers meet no resistance, his body adjusting to the new width easily and promisingly. He could feel the quivering of Steve’s thighs again, could hear the needy whines the boy was making as he took Eddie’s fingers as deep as Eddie could bury them, making Eddie wonder at how easily Steve might be able to take his whole fist.

The thought of Steve’s wet pussy lips encasing him up to his forearm had his dick jerk warningly, so he pushed that thought aside for later contemplation, instead focusing on the just as alluring present. He suckled at Steve’s cocklet, groaning around him at the pleasant weight on his tongue, before reluctantly pulling back. He wanted to see Steve’s face for this.

Letting Steve drag slowly over his lips, swirling his tongue around the tip one last time, he released him with a small pop as he readjusted his fingers inside Steve to find that spot again. Once he was certain he found it, he glanced back up at Steve’s expression with a grin, watching the way Steve flushed all the way down his chest, writhing beneath him.

“Fuck, baby, you look so good riding my fingers like this. Can’t wait to see how you look riding my knot,” he breathed, causing another sharp whine to rip itself from Steve’s panting lips.

“A-alpha,” he moaned, limbs shaking with the intensity of his building orgasm as Eddie’s fingers assaulted the sensitive spot inside him over and over again. Eddie couldn’t tell if Steve’s hair was still wet from the rain or if it was from sweat, but Eddie’s own hair was sending droplets of sweat down the back of his neck, so he figured it was probably both. Eddie wanted to lick it all up. “G-gonna—”

Though Eddie had a feeling he knew how Steve was going to finish that sentence, he had no chance to as, with another firm massage against his g-spot, Steve was suddenly shouting in surprise and arching off the bed with an accompanying rush of slickness that soaked Eddie’s entire hand down to his wrist. The scent was unlike anything Eddie had ever smelled before, making saliva pool in his mouth with anticipation.

Even still, Eddie milked Steve through his orgasm, working the sensitive spot until Steve was whimpering at the overstimulation, utterly spent. Only then did Eddie pause, slowly pulling his hand free with a wet squelching sound that was music to his ears.

Steve’s face and expression during this had been everything Eddie had hoped for. Eyes squeezed tightly shut as the orgasm hit, head thrown back against the pillow and bedding, mouth open after his shout with his face, neck, and chest flushed a deep red. One hand was curling into the sheets in a white-knuckled grip that had Eddie worrying about the continued wellbeing of the old material, while the other was curled into Steve’s own hair and threatening more than a few lost strands there as well.

With his dry hand, Eddie moved to lightly grasp those fingers first, easing them open to release the hair that had already been through a lot tonight. And would be through so much more after he was done with the omega, that was for certain.

He squeezed the hand once it released the precious strands, causing Steve to flutter his eyes open and stare at Eddie with glazed, unfocused eyes. Eddie patiently waited for him to return to himself, grinning down at Steve with a smug expression. He needed Steve’s focus for the next part.

Steve, focusing on the leering face above him finally, let out a small chuff, carefully stretching his legs back down on the mattress. His nose wrinkled a little as he shifted on the damp spot beneath him, his eyes moving to track Eddie’s hand still shiny with his slick as the older boy finally brought it up to his mouth, licking a long stripe from wrist to fingertip.

Eddie could only smirk at the wide eyed stare he received for that move.

“You really are as sweet as you smell, precious,” he purred, taking himself in hand next to spread the slick over his own cock, squeezing himself once more to keep himself under control. The mere aperitif of Steve’s taste had him more than eager for the real thing waiting for him, however, direct from the source.

A small whine left Steve at Eddie’s words, the sweet smell Eddie was quickly growing addicted to rising, and all Eddie wanted to do was bury himself in the scent and drink his fill. So he did.

Eddie took only a moment to wipe off some of the slick on the sheets, and then he was scooting back on the bed and lowering himself down flat until he could mouth at Steve’s hip bones, nipping him sharply before softly kissing the reddened mark. He glanced up at Steve, catching his pink faced look of incredulity, and then he lifted one of Steve’s legs to throw over his own shoulder and moved in.

The first swipe of his tongue over Steve’s folds was unlike any pussy he’d ever tasted before. Not that he had a lot of experience, of course, but he had enough. Enough to know what he was doing at least. Enough to help a little virgin through the first time he had his pussy eaten.

“Oh, fu—” Steve gasped out in exclamation, one hand staying fisted in the bed sheets while the other moved to curl in Eddie’s hair this time. Steve didn’t pull or twist or push or tug, however, instead he just held on as Eddie’s tongue slid through his folds, curling to flick along his already swollen cocklet.

Entirely without his permission, a deep rumble of pleasure began in Eddie’s chest, the taste of Steve even better than he had ever expected it to be. He thought about teasing Steve some more, about telling him how sweet he was, about how his virgin cunt tasted, but a hunger was burning in Eddie. He wanted more, he wanted all, and he wouldn’t be satisfied until he had his tongue soaked in Steve’s delicious slick.

Even still, Eddie let himself enjoy the moment. He swiped his tongue flat over Steve’s drenched pussy, every bit of slick he cleaned up being replaced by yet more. He could feel it coating his lips, his cheeks, his chin, mingling with his own saliva as he ate the bountiful feast before him.

“Ed-ddie-ee,” Steve continued to whine out, his heel digging into Eddie’s back where it was slung over his shoulder, hips thrusting up to meet his tongue. Great panting breaths were forced from his plush pink lips, Eddie’s name a repeating gasp for air, a reminder of who was making him feel this way.

It was the prettiest fucking sound Eddie had ever heard.

Unable to control himself, Eddie turned his face briefly to sharply bite at Steve’s inner thigh as he shoved all four of his fingers into Steve’s dripping hole. A sharp moan, nearly a cry, left Steve as he squeezed around the intrusion with an expression of pure bliss and…

Yeah. Eddie was going to fist this boy one of these days. He could feel that to the very core of his being.

For now, however, he had other things in mind.

“Look at you, darling,” he whispered, nuzzling into the red indent of his teeth. “So fucking pretty. I’m going to fucking ruin you so no alpha can ever make you feel as good as I can. I’m going to make you insatiable for me and me alone.”

Despite bordering on inappropriate, seeing as how they both knew this was only meant to be a one time thing and it wasn’t real between them, Steve could only frantically nod. “Please,” he moaned so prettily. ”Please, Eddie. P-please, alpha. Make me yours.”

The growl that had been building itself up in Eddie finally let loose. He all but ripped his fingers from Steve, though he didn’t give the poor omega even a second to mourn their loss before he was diving back in, his tongue finally replacing them once more.

“Alpha!” Steve all but shrieked, both hands now curling in Eddie’s hair and this time he did pull Eddie closer, thighs trembling as they’re squeezed against Eddie’s ears, keeping him boxed in against his heat. Eddie was more than happy to oblige.

Steve arched off the bed as Eddie expertly tongue fucked him, crying out with each thrust and curl of the appendage inside his core. Eddie’s fingers dug into the thigh hooked over his shoulder as he pressed so close he was suffocating in Steve’s moist scent, his other hand having to squeeze his own balls trapped against the bed so he didn’t pop a knot just from eating Steve Harrington out.

He ate with a ferociousness, licking and sucking and biting and thrusting, until Steve was nothing but a babbling, sobbing mess. He could feel and taste the gushing of Steve’s eager cunt, how tightly he began squeezing around Eddie’s head and tongue, how he was trembling beneath him so tightly coiled, so close, close, close—

Steve came with a scream, his cocklet squirting over his own chest.

Eddie nearly laughed with glee as his face was soaked with Steve’s release, swallowing the rush down with greedy swipes of his tongue. He kept licking and sucking at Steve’s swollen walls and lips until Steve’s fingers tugged a little too forcibly at his hair, overly sensitive and aching. Eddie did laugh then, chuckling as he lifted from his prize and immediately sought out Steve’s other lips.

Steve moaned into the sloppy kiss, bent nearly in half with his leg still over Eddie’s shoulder, panting against Eddie’s mouth and shuddering at the taste of himself. Teeth clacked together as Eddie couldn’t quite stop smiling, smearing Steve’s own juices over the other boy’s face.

“Damn, baby, I almost burst just from tasting you,” he lightly huffed, trailing his lips to Steve’s ear and swiping his tongue along the shell of it, causing another sharp whine to leave the omega. He smirked, slowly letting Steve’s leg slide from his shoulder to the crook of his elbow. “But we’re not finished yet, sweetheart.”

Without giving Steve a moment to react, Eddie pulled back, tossing Steve’s leg over to his other side to give him the space necessary to grab the other boy by the hips and—thanking the muscles that came from hauling around heavyass amps and drums every week—flipped Steve over until he was on his front.

A startled squawk left the omega, causing Eddie’s smirk to become a small grin, especially when he then pulled Steve up to his knees and pressed the length of his cock against the boy’s pussy, pulling out another moan from Steve beneath him.

Eddie paused though, swiping his fingers lightly over Steve’s hips, giving the other boy a moment to catch his breath. Steve shakily held himself up on his forearms, his body twitching like he didn’t know if he wanted to move forward or back against Eddie’s body. His entire body was slick with sweat, and god if Eddie didn’t want to see just what else he could wring from the boy.

“What’s your color, baby?” he quietly asked, his voice gruff with desire. It took every drop of strength within himself not to rock against Steve’s hips. “It’s not too late to stop now.”

But Steve shook his head roughly at that. “No,” he gasped and groaned, and though when he looked over his shoulder there was a pinch of anxiety around his eyes, his voice didn’t waver. “It’s green, Eddie. My color…it’s green.” Steve drew in a shuddering breath. “Knot me, alpha. Please.”

Christ on a cracker. Eddie let out a heavy groan at that, and then he couldn’t stop himself from thrust his hips against Steve’s, the tip of his cock sliding through the soft folds of Steve’s swollen pussy.

Whatever smirk had started spreading on Steve’s lips at Eddie’s groan was knocked from him by the action, a moan of his own escaping him. Eddie pulled back, taking himself in hand to line himself up, before pausing again.

“Are you certain you want me to come in you? No condoms, or…anything?” If he was meant to knot Steve, it wasn’t like he could pull out, but he didn’t want to cause Steve any worry. Since Steve wasn’t in heat then it wasn’t likely for anything to catch, and he’d give Steve a morning after pill too just in case, but he wanted to make absolutely certain that Steve was serious about going raw.

“Fuck, Eddie,” Steve groaned, sounding exasperated and annoyed. “If you don’t stick your dick in me right no—OWH GOD!”

Well, it had sounded like permission enough.

Eddie thrust forward as soon as he was certain that Steve was certain, bright green and certain, and then he was sliding home into Steve’s tight, wet heat like it was where he had always belonged.

After two orgasms and being properly loosened and relaxed, there was little to no resistance, Steve’s body squeezing around him to suck him in deeper. A sound like the air being punched from his lungs left Steve as his head dropped to the pillows before him, thighs trembling.

It was…fuck. It was unlike any pussy or ass or mouth or anything else that Eddie had stuck his dick in before, Steve’s body an inferno and—before tonight—untouched. A soft keen left Steve’s lips as Eddie slowly slid in, deeper and deeper, until their bodies were flush against each other.

“Fuck, baby boy, it’s like you were made for me,” Eddie panted, and he could feel the sweat spilling down his back, over his chest, down his thighs at the sweet pleasure and effort it took not to move. “Your virgin pussy feels so perfect, omega, made just for my thick cock.”

He knew he was supposed to ruin Steve tonight, was supposed to fuck him hard and deep so that there was no denying what had occurred tonight, to save him from an unwanted bonding, but…

He needed to make certain that Steve was okay. Despite Steve’s earlier assumptions that Eddie would just take and take and take, he wasn’t that sort of alpha. No, instead he wanted to give and give and give. And maybe take just a little bit as well.

As he felt Steve flutter around him, clenching and releasing as his omega body naturally accumulating to an alpha cock inside him, Eddie slowly rocked in circles, taking pleasure in the hitched breathing of the boy as he adjusted. Of course, it wasn’t just for Steve either. Eddie feared that if he moved too quickly, he’d pop his knot and bust a load immediately, more turned on than he had ever recalled being before.

Eventually, however, a small whine came from Steve, and then the boy was pressing back against him. “Eddie,” he moaned. “Need you, alpha…”

“I’ve got you, omega,” Eddie answered immediately, wrapping an arm around Steve’s waist as he laid himself over the boy’s sweat-sticky back. He nuzzled into the back of his hair with a rumble in his chest. “M’gonna knot you so good, omega. Gonna make you scream for me. Gonna fill you with my seed so everyone knows you’re mine.”

Oops.

That last part was probably a bit too much, because Steve wasn’t his, but before he could backpedal and try to explain that he was just in a role right now, Steve was moaning and pressing even further back against him with a needy whine.

“Fuck, yes, alpha. Show them I’m yours,” he panted. “Mark me up. Ruin me, alpha, please.”

How was Eddie supposed to do anything but answer that request?

Steve was already marked with blossoming bruises, but Eddie couldn’t help but leave more, sucking biting kisses along Steve’s neck, shoulders, and back, though he avoided the mating gland he knew that Steve had been worried about. That Steve had trusted him with. That fact shouldn’t make him feel the way it did, yet it did.

That strange urge to protect Steve began rearing its head again, causing Eddie to squash it down and focus on what was real between them: nothing but hot, no-emotions sex for a specific purpose.

(If that purpose was to protect Steve from an alpha who would hurt him, well, that was neither here nor there at the moment.)

Eddie finally pulled back again, sliding slowly out of Steve until just his tip remained inside. He relished in the needy whine Steve let out, though he didn’t let the boy finish it before he was slamming back inside the omega with a bruising grip on his hips.

A choked off cry left Steve at the force, followed by a shuddering gasp as Eddie repeated the process, working his hips as he thrust into Steve over and over again. All of it Steve took willingly, spreading his thighs more as pushed back against the alpha drilling into him, back arched like a bitch in heat.

Eddie did not let up, tilting his hips as he brought Steve backwards to meet him, angling for that spot inside of Steve and knowing he found it again when Steve let out a sharp cry, even his forearms giving out on him until Steve fell face first into the bed.

“You feel so good, omega,” Eddie panted between thrusts, the cheap bed frame beneath them creaking and groaning as the force of his thrusting made it hit the wall repeatedly. Slick dripped from Steve with every thrust, pulled out of him by Eddie’s dick, the wet sound of their bodies moving together louder than even the raging storm outside.

Steve made an attempt to speak, but it came out as little more than an incomprehensible and drooling moan as Eddie nailed Steve’s g-spot over and over again. Were Eddie not holding Steve’s hips up to fuck into, he was certain Steve would have collapsed fully to the bed.

“So fucking tight,” Eddie moaned. “So wet for me, omega. Such a good boy.” That caused another high pitched keen to leave Steve, causing Eddie to grin. “You like being my good boy? Like taking my cock? Bet you’d look so pretty choking on it.”

Shit, he was close. There was no denying that with how well Steve was taking his dick, wet and hot and so inviting, keening moans leaving Steve amidst cries of pleasure. Literal cries of pleasure, tears leaking from Steve’s lids as Eddie fucked him closer and closer to his own climax, his fingers weakly scrambling in the bedding for purchase.

“Look at you taking my cock so well. Like a fucking pro,” Eddie groaned, sliding one hand from Steve’s hip to glide over Steve’s sweaty back and curl his fingers into Steve’s messy hair. He clenched his fingers in the strands, pulling slightly, causing Steve to let out a whining shout and shudder around Eddie.

Eddie’s knot, which had already begun filling, nearly fully popped right then and there at the sound. Christ, he needed to come now.

“Good boy, such a good boy,” Eddie breathed, feeling his growing knot pressing against Steve with every thrust. One hand still in Steve’s hair, he slid his other under Steve’s chest, sitting back on his heels and pulling Steve with him until the omega was all but riding him…had he the presence of mind to do so.

A sharp cry left Steve at the new angle, thighs and entire body trembling as the force of gravity made him take Eddie deeper, and finally Eddie’s knot fully popped inside the omega’s quivering body. The wet heat felt like coming home.

Holding Steve to him, pulling his head back against Eddie’s shoulder to expose his gorgeous neck already dotted with his bruising marks, Eddie thrust up as much as he was able only a handful of times more before his release broke.

As his spend flooded inside of Steve, Eddie’s teeth found purchase in Steve’s neck once more, clamping to the small protrusion of Steve’s mating gland to suck a deep, dark bruise over the area every instinct in him was telling him to pierce and bleed and claim.

He didn’t though, of course, because he wasn’t some knothead and Steve trusted him, but he would make it known that Steve was not untouched in the greatest way imaginable.

And if his inner alpha was whispering that it was a promise, well…no one needed to know that.

Steve’s hoarse voice cried out as he arched against the bite, the knot, everything Eddie was doing to him and giving him, reaching back to grab old of Eddie’s hair as his cocklet squirted again across the bedding as he clamped down hard on Eddie with a flood of his own release.

Eddie’s arm across his chest kept him close, his hips jerking in small thrusts as they rode their shared orgasm together. Without even truly knowing what he was saying, Eddie whispered quiet though filthy praises in Steve’s ear.

It was only when Steve turned truly boneless against him, wrung dry and yet filled with Eddie, that Eddie carefully maneuvered them back against the bed, their heads at the foot of the bed as he rolled them to their sides. A small whine left Steve at the pull of their bodies, held together by Eddie’s knot, but he made no other protest.

Steve’s gasping breaths matched his own, chest heaving as he panted for air, and despite knowing this wasn’t real, Eddie couldn’t help but gently nuzzle into Steve’s sweaty hair, placing a soft kiss to the dark bruise on Steve’s mating gland.

The feeling of Steve against him, of his knot inside the other boy, the mingled scent of Steve and sex thick and heavy in the room…fuck, Eddie wanted more of it, he realized with a sudden pit in his stomach.

Steve—Harrington hadn’t been anything like he had expected. Sure, it’s not like they had had a truly meaningful conversation before they’d fallen into bed, but Eddie had seen and heard enough. The person he had thought Harrington to be simply didn’t seem to exist. Steve wasn’t the pampered, spoiled prince everyone thought him to be.

Well, maybe he had been a little spoiled, but he certainly hadn’t been pampered. Not if he was willing to pay the town’s drug dealer to fuck him and hurt him just to get away from his parents’ machinations. How much of Steve had been Steve? And how much had been the puppet of his parents?

Did Steve even know?

Even he could…acknowledge that the Harrington of this past year—hell, even more so these past few months—was not the Harrington of last year. Ever since that first time Steve came to school busted to hell because of Byers, something about the boy had changed. And now…shit.

Shit hell goddamn fuck.

Steve had shown up at his door, desperate and afraid, but oh so fucking determined. He’d come expecting a night of pain and being roughly used with no thought to his own pleasure or wellbeing, only being broken and used up so that no purity obsessed alpha would want him, all just to get out of an unwanted mating.

Because, in his parents’ eyes, he was nothing more than a piece of meat to be put up for auction.

There was something more to Steve Harrington than he had ever expected, more to the strange omega who was unlike any omega he had ever met before. An omega who was willing to do anything to protect himself, even if it meant getting hurt in the process.

Steve was purring.

Eddie froze for a moment, realizing he was still nuzzling Steve, still lightly kissing over his neck, still gently running soothing circles over Steve’s belly, and that Steve had begun purring as he melted into Eddie’s embrace as they both waited for Eddie’s knot to go down.

Shit.

Eddie didn’t know Steve, not really. Knew him only by reputation, but that was obviously false, or at least exaggerated. Steve was practically a stranger to him. And yet…

And yet Eddie wanted nothing more than to protect the omega in his arms who trusted him to keep him safe, at least to a certain degree.

Stupid fucking biology.

Eddie wasn’t stupid. He knew that, even if he was interested in getting to know Steve more, there was no way that Steve would want anything more to do with Eddie after tonight. He had gotten what he wanted and Eddie…well, Eddie wasn’t stupid.

Sure, maybe his rants about forced conformity and biological slavery were enough to convince Steve he’d probably be safe enough with him, but Eddie knew the truth. What greater disappointment was there than having a Munson be the one to steal the precious golden boy’s virginity?

The super senior, drug dealing, trailer trash, poor excuse of an alpha Munson who had no hope for a future that didn’t include the bars of a cell or six feet underground.

Why would Steve ever want anything more to do with him after tonight?

Author commentary:

So, besides a little minor ficlet here, this is the first time I’ve published some genuine smut publicly. This is also the first time I’ve ever written intersex omega smut, which for some reason vaginal sex was just harder for me to actually write. It was fun though. Might have to do it again.

I was originally going to write the part where Eddie finally penetrates Steve as a quick and sudden thing, but it ultimately felt more genuine for Eddie to pause and get Steve’s continued verbal consent again, just to check in on him. Consent is highly important to me.

You also see Eddie starting to realize fully that the douchebag he thought Steve was actually isn’t his true self, that Steve is actually so much more, as well as someone that needs protecting. Something Eddie is finding himself drawn to more and more, despite knowing (or so he thinks) that nothing could ever come of it.

Despite himself, Eddie has already fallen far more than he would ever like to admit to himself. His inner alpha has already claimed Steve as his own, much as he might try to deny it. He fights hard against biology, not wanting to succumb to baser instincts.

The line “And if his inner alpha was whispering that it was a promise, well…no one needed to know that” is probably one of my favorite lines of the entire fic. That scene where he left a mating mark without actually biting Steve was just a favorite in general too.

And Steve’s purring.

Steve has never had reason to purr like that before, so he simply hasn’t. Even when he was with Nancy, he had only seen to her needs while ignoring his own, and she wasn’t really the cuddling type. But Eddie has taken care of him, was praising him, making him feel good, and holding him close in a way that his inner omega is latching on to, even if he is similar to Eddie and believing nothing further will come of it.

As for pregnancy, in my omegaverse headcanon, omegas can get pregnant outside of heats, but it’s harder and less likely. It’s especially harder for male omegas. Even though Steve is wanting to be ruined, it’s only about his virginity, not making him an unmated teen parent. That’s a step a little too far haha.

Once again, morning after pills can be used but like real world Plan B’s, they’re not very pleasant and can either make an omega skip their heat, or make it come earlier and a little more…extreme. Suppressants and birth control don’t really work then either. Suppressants not at all and birth control very minimally. It’s basically like a super heat. And without an alpha, it’s very painful.

I also am incapable of writing Steve without a praise kink. Boy deserves to be praised and Eddie is more than happy to step up to the plate for that.

If anyone in the permanent tag list would like to be excluded from this fic’s parts, please let me know and I’ll remove you for this fic only!

Hostage Hotties:

@derythcorvinus @katyawriteswhump @honeii-puff @scoops-aboy86 @dotdot-wierdlife @everywherenothere

As well, temporary tags for this fic only are also still open if anyone else is interested in my bts author commentary.

Temporary fic tags:

@amerikanskaya-krassavitsa @estrellami-1

#fic: ruin me #ladyxdarcy #omegaverse steddie #steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #stranger things #plot thots

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adamnablelittledevil · 1 month ago

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Only Blood Communion and Interview With the Vampire to go now. I'll make more elaborated posts about my thoughts once I'm done with everything, but here are some of my opinions:

TVA is absolutely my favorite (I've said it before and will say it again: the most purifying cry I had in my life, it destroyed and restored me in the best possible way), TVL, TQOTD and Prince Lestat are also on my top 4, though I don't know where to place the latter on my personal ranking. The others are sort of tied and the order changes according to specific aspects. Like, Blood and Gold covers a lot of eras and places of the world, has multiple interesting characters, so it's fun in the sense there's a lot of stuff to see, even if I'm not a Marius's fan and he isn't the best narrator imo. On the other hand, something like Merrick is more packed, just her, Louis and David (and some Lestat), but I just love her as a character and the whole story of her family. I can't really choose.

Memnoch would be the last because it was the one I struggled with (tho I loved Armand on it), I thought the concept was great and I could've loved it with a more active, intense and eventful execution. Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis is second-to-last because most of the plot was dumb to me, the part that made sense was solved in an unconvincing way, I had to do a lot of suspending disbelief even for a supernatural/sci-fi story... But it was nice to have so many characters I love reunited, even if some didn't have lines, it's nice to know they're around and I enjoy the vampires having sort of a healthy little community.

Favorite character is definitely Armand, then Lestat, then Pandora, Maharet, Mekare, Flavius, Merrick, Bianca, Gabrielle, Mona, Benji, Avicus and Petronia (they didn't appear much and did awful brutal stuff, yes, but having an intersex/gender-fluid character was great and they had so much baggage I could empathize with them). Most after Armand and Lestat are tied. I don't know if I'd call Benedict a fave, but I'm somewhat attached to him (and I KNOW about those spoilers). I LOVE Vittorio and Ursula too and I hope they can appear in some shape or form on the show. I don't looooove Antoine, but he's alright to me. He just seems to be a poor/broke dude who wants to live, have friends and dedicate his existence to his hyperfixations and I can relate because same lol. I get him.

Favorite pairings (either as an OTP or brotp): Lesmand (👑👑👑), Pandora and Flavius (👑👑), Maharet and Mekare (👑, they just don't get more crowns because they don't appear as much as I wanted 😔), Armand and Benji and Sybelle (as duos and a trio), Armand and Riccardo, Armand and Bianca (pretty much Armand and everyone that isn't Marius lol), Lestat and Mona (their childish siblings-coded beef entertains me), Maharet and Jesse and Vittorio and Ursula (👑👑). I wish I had seen more of some characters/dynamics, tho.

MAYBE I could tolerate Marius and even love Magnus (he seems to have a sad and interesting story) if all I'd seen of them had been the content of the last trilogy, but given the previous books, I'm not sure I can enjoy Anne's decisions. I have a lot of mixed feelings about Magnus apologizing and Marius's behavior not even being seen as something to apologize for in the first place, but that's for another post.

Some of the books I would've been able to read and love with or without the show, some I only read to get information, but I'm mostly glad I'm equipped with so much of the lore now. That's not to say there aren't problematic things even for the genre that I need to compartmentalize and ignore (to some extent and not completely) for my enjoyment, because there is a lot of that, but it hasn't been a waste of time. And I'm glad I know what can happen in the future, make silly little fancasts and have events to look forward to seeing on the series. Obviously, opinions can change with the next books, when I re-read the novels or even with conversations and discussions... And that makes me excited as well.

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wrathofrats · 9 months ago

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hi!! I hope you’re having or had a good day, can you please do like trans anything. hcs, fic, etc. whatever yoy want

Hi! I have and I hope you have too!

Ofc (: I have a bunch of little trans headcanons, also if you’re not a regular around her feel free to scroll through my ao3 or writing tag, I have a bunch of little trans fics for a lot of the ghouls! (There’s like 3-4 trans Swiss posts not far down I was really on something the other day. Mmm Swussy)

(Small reminder that I am not trans, but I always love supporting and writing about the ghouls being trans. However if I say something that isn’t accurate/is offensive please don’t hesitate to say something. I try to do my research but do make mistakes.)

As for main headcanons that will show up in most if not all fics of mine, I hc rain as trans, Zeph as nonbinary and uses they/them, and mist as intersex and uses she/her pronouns!

As for other little things:

Dew got his top surgery scars tattooed over by Swiss. It was of these cool centipede looking creatures, Swiss had to steal one from the greenhouse and put in a jar to use as a reference.(Actually aether had to, Swiss screamed and said it was attacking him)

Gym bro ifrit using gender affirming exercises to change his breasts, making them more muscular so they’re more like pecs instead. (Zeph almost passes out when he finally is comfortable enough to wear a tank top without a binder and they could see them through the sides)

I think alpha is scared of needles and so omega has to help him with his shots. There’s a point where alpha definitely gets over it but just likes how omega does it anyways and doesn’t want him to stop.

Aurora being over the absolute fucking moon when she finally starts forming breasts. Super small, barely enough to fill out a bralette so it doesn’t gap, but shes so excited. Cirrus absolutely goes and buys her a couple new cute bras since she can wear them now.

Aether looking up every way he can to help cirrus voice train. Sits with her a bunch at night while he tries to coach her, slowly getting her voice higher and higher until she’s comfortable and it no longer puts strain on her vocal cords.

#reminder to trans the ghoulettes too #but I hope this is what you wanted anon!!#if you want fics or anything feel free to send another ask (:#again if I said something inaccurate pls call me out #the band ghost #ghost #nameless ghouls #ghost bc

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autumnmobile12 · 1 year ago

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Human turned Vampire variations

From the classic bite of Bram Stoker's novel explained to some really convoluted metamorphoses, here are 6 ways humans are turned into vampires throughout modern media.

Shiki

This series had a slow process, similar to the classic Dracula. The shiki chooses one victim to feed off of over the course of three nights and holds said victim entirely under their sway through a means of hypnosis. Growing increasingly more anemic and unable to tell their family and friends what's happening, the victim eventually passes away from heart failure.

However, the vampire bite itself doesn't guarantee a new vampire. It's caused by an unspecified genetic factor that responds to a vampire bite. The shiki in the series gather around the grave of their latest victim and wait for signs of life, digging up their new member if they do and giving up if they start to smell the body decaying.

It led to a pretty devastating moment for one of the vampires who desperately tried to turn the rest of her family, but none of them had the genetic factor and she ended up killing all of them for nothing.

Hellsing

Vampire bites virgin human of the opposite sex.

Okay, seems simple enough, but what exactly are we considering virginity here? This is an arbitrary concept with a definition that has changed multiple times over history, not to mention the 'loss of virginity' definition today varies according to who you ask. What are we considering gender? Are we strictly adhering to an individual's biological characteristics or is transgenderism/gender-fluidity at play? What about intersex individuals?

This one seems straightforward until you consider all the non-heteronormative angles, but really...I'm pretty sure no one watches this series for the plot. I think we all just showed up to see a vampire annihilate the Third Reich.

Twilight

I've never read/watched the books/movies, but I've heard it's venom in this series. Is it venom? If so, that's an interesting take.

Vampire in the Garden

Saliva.

The vampires of this series are the result of a genetic mutation and can change another human into a vampire by introducing an unspecified pathogen/chemical found in their saliva into the human's bloodstream.

Soulless (or the Alexia Tarrabotti novels)

All right, this book series is fun and I highly recommend. British sass, steampunk Victorians, LGBTQ+ representation, fabulous vampires, and dorky werewolves, I love it.

Anyway, vampires in this series have what's called 'feeder fangs,' but the female vampires have a second smaller set called 'maker fangs.' So only a female vampire can create a new vampire.

Also, the supernatural system of this world revolves around souls. People can have an average 'amount' of soul, for lack of a better word, an unknown percentage of people can have 'excess soul,' and a rare number can have no soul. Excess soul lingers after death, so people with excess soul become ghosts when they die. Or, if they are bitten by a vampire or werewolf, they can become that supernatural being and gain immortality.

But since there's no feasible way to measure how much soul one has, becoming supernatural is a roulette with death. Similar to Shiki, immortality by vampire bite is not guaranteed.

Vampire Knight

Vampires can reproduce with each other and give birth to children, essentially making them just a long-lived, virtually immortal sub-species of humanity that needs blood to survive.

There's also a vampire hierarchy of which only the rare 'purebloods' can create new vampires, but the former human vampires are unstable and often become mindless, blood-driven monsters, adding to the classicism of the upper hierarchy.

(If I remember right, it's been awhile since I read these.)

...

These are all the methods I can think of, but reblog if you can think of another method or one that's similar to the ones above.

#dracula #vampires #vampire media #vampire human metamorphoses #vampire knight #shiki #hellsing #hellsing ultimate #soulless #alexia tarrabotti #vampire in the garden #twilight

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neonscandal · 10 months ago

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jjk having queer-coded villains seems to be an intentional choice. what are your thoughts on this

Anon comin in hot today! I feel like this doesn't really need a spoiler warning though it does detail info about characters yet to be animated so read at your own risk.

To be honest, I wouldn't even say that it's coding, JJK has an assortment of characters with varied identities from our protagonists to our antagonists which includes:

Megumi - a lot of fans interpret his non-gendered answer to what his type is, focusing instead on personality, to mean that he's pansexual.

Mahito - genderless ✨ and/or physically lacking reproductive organs that would typically define gender binary

Tengen - presumably assigned female at birth, has since transcended gender or is more non-binary

Kenjaku - another character who's just.. lived so long that they're just kind of gender fluid? Though, considering their history, intersex may be more appropriate? We know that, as Noritoshi Kamo, he mixed his blood with what would become the cursed womb paintings but she actually consummated with Jin for some extra razzle dazzle

Uraume - canonically they/them

Kirara - assigned male at birth (though I believe canonically referred to as they/them) with an androgynous gender expression

Please note: I don't consider myself an expert on the matter as gender identity, expression and sexual orientation exist on spectrums. Subsequently, if you think any of the above characters belong elsewhere based on canon or headcanon, I get it. If, based on canon, I'm outright incorrect, feel free to drop a comment and I'll edit accordingly.

With the distribution of the above in mind, I don't think it's unilaterally something focused just among the antagonists. Though, ironically, some of my color coding is also debatable at this point, I suppose. I think the more interesting observation is that, with enough time, such labels aren't as binding or lack the need for definition. Like, Tengen has all the time in the world to be whatever they want to be and they simply become. In fact, unrelated but kinda related, you see a similar idea in Hell's Paradise with the mercurial gender fluidity of the Tensens, too. Honestly, that's another show to watch with a curious lens.

All that to say, I think the varied representation is more interesting due to the conversation around the mangaka's own identity. Gege Akutami's anonymity has been shielded by their pen name but, also, I don't believe they have confirmed pronouns. While people argue that they went to an all boys' school previously, they also, during a stint as an assistant on another manga, unveiled themselves with a femme presenting avatar. Seemingly to avoid being defined by visual perception (or to pre-emptively avoid recognition by devastated fans..), they appeared in a video interview dressed as Mechamaru. Couple that with the fact that there is a notable lack of romantic pairings within the story, especially those that would be typical of a shonen story. Arguably, that could leave a lot of Aro and/or Ace characters that I'm too obtuse to have picked up on. In fact, one could interpret Akutami's previous comments about Gojo accordingly.

Subsequently, I don't think the intention is to vilify queerness just because some of the antagonists fit the bill. I think, if anything, there's just representation that isn't necessarily cultivated around "othering" queer characters or using their diversity as a plot line, if that makes any sense? Which isn't just concentrated on the "bad guys". For the most part, these are just subtle realities of the characters... okay, Kenjaku's identity can definitely be charged to the plot though. 👀 Seemingly contrary to what I just said about diversity as a plot device, I'm now having mixed feelings specifically with Kenjaku because their identity does inform the plot but also intrinsically brings nuance to them as a character. The more I think about it, this diversity is actually what humanizes them which, connotatively, still seems like a positive thing. Hm. Maybe I'm a hypocrite? Not sure but I'm curious as to your thoughts so feel free to leave them below 👇🏾

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linversearts · 2 months ago

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like someone already said, there's a handy option to use a masc body type with fem facial features in the sims. i don't know why the other anon decided to immediately get argumentative over their own misinterpretation. nobody is being attacked here

having a noticeable chest wouldn't make mhin any less non-binary. obviously. that's not what was ever implied here but i feel like missing the point should've been expected on the "piss on the poor" website lol (/j). there isn't just one way to be genderqueer, and characters like mhin already get very little representation as it is - both of these statements can and do co-exist

androgynous non-binary people are often automatically watered down to "woman lite", be it intentionally or not, and to put it simply it sucks constantly seeing that everywhere. and it sucks even more to see someone plugging their ears and going "omg it doesn't matter, live your life, do whatever you want" to anyone they don't immediately agree with, y'know?

as far as we're concerned, mhin's flat. their sprite shows as much, but the vere sketches make that especially obvious even with the shirt. anything else is a headcanon, and it'd be a different thing entirely if they were shown using a binder like you said, but they're not! 'cause they don't have to be. amab non-binary folks exist, intersex non-binary folks exist, and afab non-binary folks who are naturally flat-chested also exist

this is less so about your own personal video game playthrough and more so about any accidental internalised biases, you feel me? yeah, it's just the sims. yeah, it's also a little weird when trans characters are put into boxes that don't fit them. if mhin was just a feminine cis dude - who looked the exact same as they do now - would it still make sense to give them a fem preset?

i dunno. i feel like i'm rambling and over-explaining myself now, so please feel free to read this in your own time and not answer it publicly if you want. but all of this seems like a really simple fix - you were cool with the initial ask, someone suggested an easy way to fix it, and all of this could've ended at that. i know tone can be hard to read over text so i genuinely hope this isn't coming across as snappy

Hi again!

And I think I see what you mean now. Less about the game, and more about internalized biases. Perhaps I did/do have an accidental internalized bias, and I will definitely try to work on it. So thank you for the clarification!

And it did come across as a little snappy, but I understand why. This is very clearly a topic that is close to you (therefore you’re passionate about it!), and it’s important in general! So no hard feelings :)

#mhin #touchstarved #touchstarved game #sims 4 #sims

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pistoleroplainscc · 1 year ago

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Hello! I don't like to do this, but I think it needs to be done.

If you heard about Equiliberty, you probably heard about Jocelyn Flores, or Moe, or 2thedoe, or whatever her names are. I really didn't want to make this post, but seeing how she made a whole blog just to talk trash about other servers and people who are "harassing" her after her other blogs got taken down, I feel I need to say something and let others know what they would be joining into.

First I'd like to make a pointer here; Natalia does not take their time to dedicate "talking shit" about Jocelyn or whatever she goes by now. She only posted what felt was necessary to let others know what is going on behind closed doors that Jocelyn wants to keep pushing away as nothing and act the victim. Yes, maybe some of us said some things in the past, but what Jocelyn is doing is not cool.

What's really sad is I thought Jocelyn was an amazing person, but after all the things I've seen, I take it back. Sure she can be cool when she's not showing her true colors, but she can't own up to what she's done and take responsibility, and instead says she apologizes and then makes an entire tumblr blog dedicated to shit talking others and calling any other sims 4 equine communities/servers "competition". Your server isn't the only one, ma'am. Which shows one of the posts she's made on it below:

Secondly; what you're doing IS making a drama post by keeping it going. If it truly bothered you, just ignore it and keep going on with your life than wasting your energy on making an entire blog to be nasty towards others? You made your point, you block them, you go on, not have your 'friends' stalk them to keep you up to date with what's happening and keep stirring the pot by adding to your hate blog. And you're not transphobic??

Uh, I hate to break it to you but this:

This is the definition of transphobic. How can you say you want to respect them, but you don't want to even call them by their pronouns? You OBVIOUSLY don't respect them enough if you refuse to call them what they go by. Calling them by their desired name is the bare minimum, but it don't mean you respect them.

This may be an opinion, but this is a HARMFUL one. There are no "two genders". If you believe in science, then obviously you're not studying it hard enough. Sex? There is at least six:

X – Roughly 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 5,000 people (Turner’s )

XX – Most common form of female

XXY – Roughly 1 in 500 to 1 in 1,000 people (Klinefelter)

XY – Most common form of male

XYY – Roughly 1 out of 1,000 people

XXXY – Roughly 1 in 18,000 to 1 in 50,000 births

"Sex refers to biological attributes that distinguish organisms as male, female, intersex and hermaphrodite. Gender is a social construct, encompassing various psychological and social characteristics that collectively define individuals as men, women, non-binary or trans, etc." So obviously you don't believe in science enough to actually do your research, I presume? Don't make an "opinion" if you've never done any research on this type of a topic.

Yes, this is how we will run our community by making sure the person that has hurt multiple people don't join back and cause more problems. If someone causes you trauma in your childhood and you finally get away, would you want them to just come back in your life? I don't think so. Somethings CAN be forgiven, but obviously this is a big thing that hurts a big community, and you can't even take responsibility and give a lame apology to actually apologize for hurting others, but instead just to cover your tracks and protect yourself, along with "clearing out people who don't feel serves the server any purpose anymore" and in the midst of your breakdown, you ban this person who didn't do ANYTHING except check their balance because you weren't happy at the time.

Oh, by the way, here's the thing that I was referring to with the competition and once again dragging another server down in this "quote unquote" not a drama post. No one is poaching members from the server, they're doing that on their own. They're not going to stay in a server with someone they don't feel comfortable with. But AI generated logos? I was there during the time and I don't remember any AI generated logos? I remember a conversation about AI generated images and Jocelyn not agreeing with banning them or not seeing anything wrong with it and not seeing the point in getting angry over it.

No one attacked the server, Jocelyn. Everything that's been said was towards you who has ruined the server for everyone, even to the point removing general because you couldn't handle being called out and instead was lashing out at the others and acting the victim in the chat, deleting anything that even mentioned it or asked a question. OH! And kicking someone out of the server for simply asking a question for you to clarify what you said.

Only server I've ever had to walk on eggshells and scared to interact on was in Equiliberty - but that was because of you, and that's why I left. I was scared to interact after your little meltdown because if someone said anything there was a possibility of getting banned for no reason. But these servers? They feel truly like home and not once has there been any problems, and they actually listen to the members when there's a suggestion made.

Anywho, onto yet another post she had made!

No one has made accounts just to harass you - it's more like you who has done that, huh? And useless tumblr posts? It's pretty useful to me to avoid someone like you who can't seem to let things go and keep it going and not even take responsibility of your actions.

Quite sad you won't even take in other peoples words when trying to tell you there isn't just "two genders". No one is making the LGBTQ+ more important than the "other factors" but we're tired of not being taken serious and being brushed aside as if we're nothing but garbage. Yes, we all matter equally, but to go out of your own way to downsize the importance of this is quite astonishing. To be going around saying "it's just my opinion" and very clearly saying you won't be calling someone by their pronouns because what YOU see isn't what they identify or feel like or even "pass" as but yet you still "respect" them really shows the type of person you are and to lie to cover your own ass too on top of it. Uh huh. I sure as all hell don't feel respected, you've lost all my respect for you.

Many people have posted straight from the source of where things were said and done, so you're right! Never assume! People know who you truly are now, ma'am.

And here she is with her saying her other accounts have been deleted and ofc this being her first post! Totally not drama posts, right?? RIGHT?? So, there's my proof of her verifying this whole blog is dedicated to harassing others and talking shit and trying to turn it around on the ones who tell and show the truth. Have a good life Jocelyn, but sooner or later, others who are sticking around you and protecting you will realize who you truly are.

#sims 4 #equiliberty #jocelyn #jocelynxflores #jocelyn flores #drama #the equestrian sims

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lovesick-nagi · 6 months ago

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okay, so ive made this throw away account to be able to respond to this,, will delete it once everything's worked out i guess?? not entirely sure,, and firstly id like to say that everything we're going to say isn't us trying to defend ourself,, what we did was fucked and wrong, end of story,, also im not actually going to comment on some of the things we did because i just genuinely dont know how nor do i remember any of it, and so i feel its safer this way for everyone im specifically going to be talking about our ex and why what they show isnt exactly,, trustworthy ( I am not calling them a liar however I do have proof from multiple sources that they aren't great and so I do not trust them in the slightest ),,, aswell as us trying to insult your identity also you only need to respond to this if you are comfortable, i truly dont wish to pressure you into anything you may be uncomfortable with

with our ex, specifically one of them however i truely don't wish for any harm to come to them so i will not be naming names, we have multiple people vouching on the fact they aren't a great individual,, aswell as us ourself having screenshots ( however it is just what i could get my hands on, as we closed our dm with them,, which does mean there is more that i cannot get ),,, if you'd like to learn more about this with screenshots and such id be happy to share if you reached out to us, as we physically cannot reach out to people

and with us trying to insult your identity,, that's not the case at all, we were trying to look out for you as fae/faer pronouns are extremely disrespectful to the fae and should be considered closed pronouns,, we were trying to look out for you so other people don't get aggravated with you for using them in the future,, the best way i can describe it is think of it as using a closed cultures practice with witchcraft, its extremely disrespectful and not something you can do, if that makes sense,, another example is how it's like shi/shir pronouns are only for intersex people,,, i do hope im explaining this well, if not i apologize for the confusion

i appreciate you for saying you forgive us, even though deep down i don't fully believe you,, nor do i even think you should forgive us as we really did hurt you,, we would be willing to get in contact to either talk this through or to showcase some proof we have, however yet again we ourself are incapable of reaching out

( also, the reason we may say things like "from what i've heard" or "what i understand" is truly because we don't remember anything but like,, one thing,, from our entire friendship )( also i should probably say that i didn't proof read this or anything, i definitely should have but i unfortunately didnt and its a tad to late for that now )

Hello again.....

So,, these two points to me are not really effective at all. First of all, you can provide any attempt at defaming your ex but that does not invalidate their experiences with you, which they have already provided proof of. Those are not lies or twisted in any way, it is just what you did. There is no denying that. Even if they were "untrustworthy", the proof is literally right there. I don't need to trust them to believe the factual proof they have presented.

I'm confused about how providing said proof of them being unreliable would prove anything,,, they've already provided logs and everything so they're not lying, and there are now four people having expressed their abusive experiences with you,, so what does trying to slander one of them do to make you look better ?? /gq Frankly, it's working more to do the opposite, because it shows you are still actively trying to blameshift and villanize others.

The reason they were not infact, "the best person", was because they were heavily impacted you and the terrible situation they were put in, and who wouldnt be ? They have since apologized to everyone they legitimately hurt during that time, the affected people accepted the apology, they made actions to better themselves, and have gotten into a better place. I cannot say the same for you.

No one has ever gotten "aggravated" because of my pronouns, which, for the last time, is because i have never used fae/faer in the first place. There was nothing TO be angered by, and there is no logical reason you could have ever said that as a mistake, as my correct pronouns are literally everywhere. It was just a purposeful misrepresentation of my identity, especially because you purposefully spelled them the wrong way. That spelling has never been listed anywhere on any of my socials and no one ever said them verbally. There was never room for misinterpretation.

Please do not try to mansplain closed things within being pagan or intersex, because I am both. If these are, as you say, "closed culture pronouns", even if I did use them, what culture are they closed to ? Pagans ? People who work with the fae ?? Hell, people of Irish heritage ???? I'm all of the above. This is ridiculous. I never even used those pronouns in the first place and there is literally nowhere you could have gotten that information from besides ignoring what my pronouns are actually listed as. There was literally no reason or justification for any of this.

Overall, these aren't even my main gripes with you. I'd say the main ones wereee...maybe getting physically abused for a year and sexually assaulted. Which you have still never apologized directly to me for, nor do I think any apology or excuse you would come up with could ever make better.

To my knowledge I have never claimed to forgive you. I said I forgive your exes, because they were also your victims, and their actions were influenced by that. I can understand were they came from, because we dealt with the same things from you. You are right to believe we wouldn't or shouldn't forgive you, we didn't ever claim to, and we never will.

You say you are physically unable to reach out, which confuses me as that is literally what you did by sending this. This ask is also not an anonymous one, meaning you can send images here, which you are free to do. I am interested in what you think would vindicate you in this situation, and would like to see.

You,, still could have proof read it, because you actively wrote down that you should have before you sent it, but okay. A small bit of advice, but as many of your askers constantly said, and you still have clearly not learned, you really should be more careful with what you say, especially in a situation as,, critical for you as this is. I look forward to seeing the supposed proof you have, feel free to try and prove me wrong with whatever you send in.

#.exe answers #.exe chatting #stylusscomms #tw abuse #tw sa mention

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femboy-nation-rise · 1 month ago

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Closet femboy here. I have a million questions tbh but I don't know how to say them? Do you have any tips or? I can't phrase anything right now

Oh no worries, I've been there too! Just keep in mind that I'm a trans male femboy, so there's certain possible physical tips that I can't give due to differences in body type and may be better directed to a cis femboy, if their body types are more in alignment with yours ❤️

The first thing to remember is that this is a form of expression for you. This means you need to do the things and wear the things that bring YOU joy first. For example, I'm not too fond of skirts, though every blue moon one will pop up that I can be okay wearing. People kind of assume femboy automatically means cute pink skirts, an Astolfo wig, and lots of makeup. And while those are pretty cute things, that's not going to fit everybody's tastes. Your femboy aesthetic is what YOU want to wear. For me, I'm a short shorts and fishnet bitch through and through. I've known several gothic femboys. Don't let yourself feel boxed in by what you think you can and cannot wear. Part of the rebellion is rejecting a society that expects you to act and look a certain way just because you're a dude. Don't instantly conform to something that isn't your true expression.

I would definitely learn sizing chart differences between men's and women's clothes and shoes, so you can get well-fitting clothes. Keep in mind that if you are not as comfortable with showing your chest, you will need to check if any shirts you buy are more sheer than they look, because fashion designers are awful and don't give women a lot of options in that department.

What I do to see if a shirt is sheer is to do "the hand test": just stick your hand inside the shirt. Can you see individual fingers, even if it's just their silhouette? Is that amount of translucency something you are comfortable with having on your chest?

Sometimes getting started and knowing what you actually like can be a very daunting first step. Getting clothes from secondhand stores can make that exploration a lot easier on your wallet and give you a better idea of what you do and do not want. Plus, it's a big "fuck you" to fast fashion and who doesn't love that?

Socks marketed as "thigh highs" are usually only "thigh highs" for skinny legs. If you've got more muscular or chubby thighs and calves (think: anything bigger than a stereotypical runner's legs), it's a good idea to order up in size or search for plus size thigh highs.

Listen to women*. Not just about what clothing is comfortable or which brand has pockets, but you need to be aware of what women go through and be a good ally. If you're going to embrace your femininity, you need to make sure you're not being toxic about it and instead be supportive to the community.

*I can't believe this has to be said in 20 fucking 24, but this includes trans women and intersex women, goddammit*

Perfume is a smelly, smelly scam, imo. Body mist is a lot gentler on the nose and is easier on the skin. Plus, it comes in scents you recognize and doesn't depend on how you, personally, think "Lovestruck" should smell. You're not going to stink up an aisle in the store for a sample spray to figure out what the fuck it is. Also, don't worry too much about whether something is a "masculine" or "feminine" smell, I guarantee you people with normal lives will only care that it smells nice. My favorite scent is cedar and aloe, which is normally considered "more masculine." You know who cares? Absolutely no one lol.

Being a femboy isn't just about your appearance, it's about doing more feminine things that make you happy that the patriarchy frowns on. For a lot of us, comfort items were few and far between and what we did have, we were often taught we had to give away to be worthwhile "providers." A really cool thing that we do is reject that notion and take care of ourselves. For a lot of us, that means soft things, like plushies and weighted blankets and those comfortable boot house slippers that keep your feet nice and warm and cozy. For you it might be soft socks or a warm robe or hygiene items that some of us were scoffed at for owning (like face masks or foot scrubs or manipedi kits etc). You are not just allowed, but ENCOURAGED to buy things that bring you comfort. Just make sure to do so responsibly—we all got rent to pay.

Kindness is also a must. There's a lot of vulnerability that comes with expressing yourself and you would want people to be kind as you are figuring out what works best for you, so be kind to others as well.

If you are a closet femboy, one concern may be people finding out about it. That concern is especially heightened if you don't live alone. One method my friend swears by (he's not out as gay and lives with a couple of roommates), is, if someone finds the clothes and you are not wearing them, say they're A) gifts for a friend or B) left behind by a hookup (this one never fails apparently).

If you are caught wearing the clothes and it's not safe to come out, you've lost a bet. You lost a bet and you hate it and giving a deadpan "do I LOOK like I'm having a good time" will help sell the lie.

That's...about all I can think of at the moment. I hope it helps! ☀️

#femboy #ask #anonymous

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goodluckclove · 7 months ago

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Songbird Blog Takeover II: Scott Skylark Kaufner Intro

Hello, everyone!

First off, I should say that this isn't Scott. I'm his sister Tenzin, stepping in to craft a bit of an intro post on his behalf. Katy suggested that we just explain the concept well enough for him to do this himself, but I kind of shot myself in the foot fifteen years ago by making the internet out to be a singular entity that already knows about him. It was the only way I could get him to go online without someone else in the room, but I can't exactly back track and finally explain the whole concept of all of you being individuals with your own lives.

it would either fascinate him or push him into a massive existential crisis. He's agreed to use my old iPhone to post today (I showed him speech to text since touchscreen keyboards are hard for him), and that alone is such a push in the right direction that I don't want to rock his world too hard beyond that.

Anyway, here's what you need to know!

My Brother: The Basics

Scott is 30, Greek-Romanian, and an intersex man (Klinefelter's syndrome). He's an alloromantic asexual - I think sex-repulsed, but I haven't asked him directly for obvious reasons - and could be considered gender nonconforming.

He is also Traditionalist Birthright, and up until the age of 12 was raised entirely without gender.

Because of this, and as he lived exclusively in a witch town until his late twenties, he has nearly zero experience with most forms of bigotry. He does not think his upbringing was unique and does find his form of gender expression to be at all remarkable.

He definitely knows about ignorance though. He's not stupid. Once we were in a gay bar in Portland and a woman who was flirting with me made a sort of fetish-y remark about me being Nigerian and Scott heard and lectured her for ten minutes about the importance of broadening your horizons so you don't make "foolish fucking comments to nice people you've just met".

Scott doesn't know that much about birthright culture. Believe it or not, being a Traditionalist actually means he refuses to learn anything about his own history, instead choosing to see himself as a little creature being cared for by a loving and bountiful earth.

There's a whole thing with birthrights surrounding their middle name. It's considered a special rite of intimacy reserved for loved ones and the most trusted individuals in their lives. His first name is Scott, but considering that he thinks you are all one being he's known since childhood, I'm pretty sure you could call him Skylark if you want.

Scott is very passionate about Greek Mythology, music (He's been playing the piano since the age of two), breakfast foods, gardening, being outside, cats, bugs, food service, libraries, medicine, and uplifting movies about animals. He has seen The Adventures of Milo and Otis twenty-one times. I know this because I have also seen The Adventures of Milo and Otis twenty-one times.

That's all I can think to say. Scott is not at all technology or internet-savy beyond what he's needed to know for work and what he watched me do from over my shoulder. I'm kindly asking that, in turn, you dial back the chronically online high-octane absurdo-nihilism and just be nice to him. He's frankly excessive in terms of allyship, somehow being both sex-repulsed and deeply sex and kink positive (please don't ask why I know this). Katy him what he thought of the furry subculture and he nodded very seriously and said that he found them all very impressive. I don't know what that means. He refused to elaborate.

Scott just told me that he's taking the phone and going out to "show the internet his day". He seems excited.

Please, please be nice to my brother.

This is a Songbird Elegies blog takeover! Find out more about what that means by going here!

#songbird blog takeover #scott posting #blind trust #writeblr #writing community #writers on tumblr #authors of tumblr #writing #queer writers #on writing #blog intro #indie author

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pomodoriyum · 2 months ago

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Hi again ! I've read your Goodsir/Des Voeux fic and idk if it was better to post a comment on it or as an ask ? I went with the ask, sorry if it's not ideal

I see what you mean with cdv's characterisation being a wip in this fic, but i still really enjoyed it !! Chas' interactions with Hodgson being my favorite part !!! I love how you can see they're friends and how much Charles relies on George (despite trying to be Cool and Not Need For Help. When he asks for George at the end, it made me so sad for him :( It was deserved but also :( )

I said it on your post already but I love ships that brings out Goodsir's bad side <3 But I also loove how he immediatly switches to "🥺" when he thinks he went too far with Chas.. My man can be your angle or your demon...

(also a detail but I like the possible interpretation of Goodsir being intersex. I'm glad you kept it up to interpretation, it was really fun)

I enjoyed reading it very much, and it made me want to read/see/write more stuff about Charles. I love him but i still love to see him break down, you know <3 Sorry for the long asklol.. Thank you for the fic and have a nice day ! :D

- @strogoff-era

hi earl!

literally whatever format works best for you. this ask was super sweet, thank you!

i definitely felt that if it’d been mutiny!era goodsir, not only would charles not want to have sex with him (nor would either of them have been capable) but also goodsir would NOT have felt bad about making cdv cry yknow? also i think cdv wouldve lost most of his ability to cry like that by then, too-- hes not able to be vulnerable b/c it's 'weak' and hes turned that part of himself off to survive anyway.

i also really really like george and charles in this fic. i was definitely imagining they had much more of an uncle/nephew sort of relationship at this point, whereas before charles had been much more under hodgson's wing during the opium war (absolutely not historical fact! just me spitballing!) but much less so on the franklin expedition, so they're both kind of adjusting from that (but also defaulting to it in moments of extreme stress). i kind of wanted cdv to have one last gasp of childhood before reality set in, as it were? maybe? so thats why he has a sobbing breakdown. he does not want to be there and he's very, very frightened. also, he's just discovered something about himself that he finds deeply disturbing ('what would my mom think' sorta line of reasoning). show!cdv would never have been vulnerable like that with anyone (nor does he seem to value other people's opinion that much), i think. which is why reading back on it now parts of the fic drive me batty (i still like it tho!)

intersex goodsir is fun. i like to think about him in this way because perhaps that motivated him to study the human body and its infinite wonderful variations. (also, i absolutely did not want cdv seeing what may or may not have been in his pants, b/c cdv would say something horrible about it! so: implied.)

thanks for this lovely ask, i am glad you enjoyed the fic!

#i am hearing whistling ducks migrate atm its so cool. and also now i have to go do my chem work. aa #anonymous #pomodoriwhines #the terror

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catgirlforeskin · 1 year ago

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I want to emphasize that I am being serious, I am just looking for an advice from someone who was there.

I considered myself a trans girl for 2 years, but I am feeling kind of invalid because I discovered this (I hope) via r/egg_irl and not myself, and trying to make a sense out of my previous experience.

I have a history of wanting to be like a girl and considering myself very girly psychologically since I was 13 and don't think that I was happy happy with being a boy some time before that, but not in early childhood at all. And even then while I liked when, for example, psychological tests showed that I am like a girl in whatever regard, I never had a problem with acknowledging being male when it seemed like an important factor. I think I could even sometimes joke about it. I, however, wanted to differentiate myself from all other boys, but I don't know if for gender reasons.

Physically I also wanted to look like a girl, I was growing my hair out since 14, always disliked my face, body and facial hair and wanted to take low dose HRT to help with everything above and "make myself a sexless elf", as some person on local imageboard from whom I got an idea said. I was also obsessed with "trap" jokes (sorry sisters) in a way that I identified with them (probably, I definitely identified with femboy memes when they appeared though), but I never crossdressed irl. I have complicated relationships with idea of breast growth and SRS, what seems to be the prime factor for most transfems - I am ambivalent about genitals, and think that my confidence would benefit from an A cup, but not more. Still, all of those thoughts are relatively recent.

But even then, I never remember wanting to BE a girl. Being happy when someone accidentally called me a girl - yes, wanting to have intersex condition to not be a man - yes (mere months before egg_irl), but never a proper girl. Maybe it's because I didn't know that I could, maybe it's because the brand of feminism I was taught said that being a girl is constant pain, I don't know, but I am feeling weird because of this.

So like, as someone who was there, does this look like normal egg experience or am I just a tomgirl (who can still benefit from low dose HRT)?

Yeah this reads like very common trans woman experience to me

I think a lot of women (trans and cis honestly) relate to the feeling of “the enforced gender role of what a woman is supposed to be kinda sucks so idk if I want to be a woman” but I think the solution is finding womanhood outside of that. Being a woman isn’t pain for me, it’s pretty cool.

As for the genital thing, I’ve got zero interest in srs, and I generally dislike the emphasis put on it by others. For me genitals are totally separate from gender, women can have whatever genitals and it doesn’t make em more or less of women.

#asks

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finnlongman · 2 years ago

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All right, time to talk about the Maines. I apologise that this is so delayed -- I've had terrible pain-related brain fog lately, but today I can at least think, even if I'm typing this from bed because sitting up at a desk is Bad.

A couple of weeks back, a friend sent me this AskHistorians question:

This is very much my area of expertise, but I don't use Reddit, so I said I'd answer it here, for the benefit of @llwhn (and anyone else who is interested).

First of all, context: I published an article about the seven Maines in Cambrian Medieval Celtic Studies 83 last year, which is one of the only pieces of research published on the topic in recent years. Unfortunately, I can't share this article online due to the copyright restrictions of the journal, but it's my research there that I'm drawing on. The Maines are a complicated bunch -- although we're told there are seven of them, they actually number between six and eight in any given list, and their names vary noticeably.

To show how much they vary, let me show you the table I produced for my CMCS article:

As we can see here, there’s considerable variation in a) how many of them there are, b) what their names are, and c) what order the names are in. This last point might not seem important, but it’s going to come up later.

Now that we’ve had a chance to appreciate that the ‘seven’ Maines are a far more complicated bunch than they appear, let’s get down to the specifics of your question. You wanted to know whether Maine Cotagaib-Uile’s epithet is implying that he’s nonbinary (or perhaps intersex?), especially as it talks about inheriting traits from both parents. This is a really interesting question, and not one I’d thought about before – surprising, since I also work on queer readings of medieval Irish texts. Having thought about it for a while, I don’t think that’s what’s being suggested here, but let’s look at it in more depth.

‘Cotagaib-Uile’ is probably the epithet to have received the most attention of those in this list, although given how little has been published about the seven Maines, that isn’t saying too much. This is interesting, because as you can see, it’s not in all of the lists, and some of the omissions are significant.

Quick Maine backstory: in some traditions, we’re told that the Maines originally had different names, and were renamed because of a prophecy Medb was given that her son Maine would kill Conchobar. She had no sons called Maine, so she renamed all of them (and one of them ends up killing a Conchobar, but not the one she wanted dead). This story is found in Cath Boinde / Ferchuitred Medba, as well as in a couple of manuscript fragments by itself; the first four columns of the table above show the lists of names given there.

In fact, let’s have another table, this time showing the ‘original’ names of the Maines and the epithets they were given when renamed, according to these four manuscripts:

Yep. As we can see, these manuscripts can’t agree on anything, which is funny, since they’re all versions of the same text. It just goes to show what a complicated question the Maines’ epithets offer. The fact that Cotagaib-Uile isn’t in this list is interesting, though, because some scholars have attributed quite a lot of importance to this name.

Introducing: Sir John Rhys. John Rhys was the Jesus Professor of Celtic at Oxford in the 19th century, and yet despite this distinguished academic background, managed to write a lot of absolute nonsense. That’s the 19th century for you! Rhys has the dubious honour of at least being creative in his wildly unsupported arguments; I love the confidence with which he’ll assert “this undoubtedly means X” when there is definitely a great deal of doubt and in fact it almost definitely doesn’t mean X.

Rhys is, however, one of the only people apart from me to have spent much time looking at the names of the Maines, so I was forced to consider his arguments for a while when I was writing this article. As we’ve seen above, there are often more than seven Maines, and Rhys, who had a theory that the “secht Maine” represented the days of the week (“sechtmain”), was keen to understand why there might be eight of them. He said that the epithet ‘Condagaib-Uile’ should be read as suggesting that this Maine ‘contained or comprehended all the others’. In this way, he’s functioning as a ‘superlative eighth’ to the seven – all the others are contained within him, just as sometimes triads give three examples of something and then a fourth that’s better than all of them.

But that’s not what the explanation given in Táin Bó Cúailnge suggests it means, is it? Now, I’ll note that Faraday’s translation is pretty old, and I wouldn’t generally use it. However, I pulled out Cecile O’Rahilly’s translation of the same line, and it’s pretty similar:

‘Their names are Maine Máthramail, Maine Aithremail, Maine Mórgor, Maine Mingor, Maine Mo Epirt, who is also called Maine Milscothach, Maine Andóe and Maine Cotageib Uile—he it is who has inherited the appearance of his mother and his father and the dignity of them both’

Cóir Anmann, a treatise on names, gives an explanation that seems to encompass Rhys's interpretation while saying the same thing as TBC:

‘who includes them all’, ‘i.e. had the appearance of his mother and father. For he was like them both’ (trans. Sharon Arbuthnot)

It's clear that even when Cotagaib-Uile is referring to "them all", it's not quite in the manner that Rhys argued, so his interpretation isn't particularly convincing. (He also attributed a lot of important to Cotagaib-Uile being the last in the list, which we can see very clearly from the table above is not always or even mostly the case.)

Instead, it definitely seems to be the “appearance” of both mother and father that the text claims Maine has inherited. Let’s look closer at that, because we don’t want to be misled by translations. Faraday uses ‘form’ instead; the difference there is negligible, but it might be significant, if we’re trying to read into this regarding gender and bodies.

The Irish word in TBC is ‘cruth’ meaning form, shape, appearance; beauty of form, shapeliness. It does refer to physical appearance, but it doesn’t seem to be a particularly gendered term referring to physical traits. There is no evidence, for example, that this is implying an intersex body containing both male and female traits. The simplest way to read this is just “he looks like both his parents”, which is a normal thing to say about somebody.

Moreover, it’s worth considering this name in the context of two of the other Maines in the list:

Aithremail, ‘like his father’, ‘i.e. he was like his father, i.e. like Ailill son of Máta’ Máithremail, ‘like his mother’, ‘i.e. he was like his mother, i.e. like Medb daughter of Eochaid’ (again from Cóir Anmann, translated by Sharon Arbuthnot)

If one brother takes after their father, one takes after their mother, then suggesting that a third brother might take after both of them doesn’t seem like a particularly loaded statement.

Indeed, if it was a loaded statement, we would expect these Significantly Gendered Traits to show up somewhere else. After all, Maine Mingar and Maine Mórgar get a whole story in which the “duty” (gar) of their names is positioned as central – that’s Táin Bó Regamain. So we might think there was a story in which taking after Medb or Ailill was significant, but there’s certainly no surviving story in which that happens.

That doesn’t mean there never was a story in which that aspect of their epithets was emphasised, but although Maine Mathremail and Maine Athremail are present in every list (a rarity among the Maines), I’m not aware that they ever get to take a starring role in any text that survives today. Likewise, there isn't a story in which Cotagaib-Uile’s superlative or combinatory nature is foregrounded.

All of that is a very long winded way of saying that I don’t think they are implying anything about this Maine’s gender: I think they’re simply saying that he has inherited traits from both Medb and Ailill. Since Medb is notorious for behaving in an “unwomanly” manner by trying to lead armies into war and so on (something some medieval authors were not impressed by), this also probably isn’t suggesting any of those traits were especially feminine.

But. That doesn’t mean this epithet, and the textual explanation given for it, doesn’t create space for a nonbinary reading of Maine. I’m all in favour of exploring queer possibilities regardless of the authors’ intentions. I think it would be challenging to argue for a trans reading overall simply because Maine Cotagaib-Uile does nothing else in the text except be included in this list, and therefore has no personality or behaviours to draw on, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t choose, in your own creative or exploratory works, to explore nonbinary possibilities.

Moreover, although I don’t think this Maine is being portrayed as ambiguously gendered on purpose, Táin Bó Cúailnge is not a text where gender binaries are neatly demarcated and always maintained. Crucially, Cú Chulainn himself is a deeply ambiguous figure whose masculinity is constantly questioned, undermined, and problematised by those around him, and his own behaviour challenges their assumptions and their definitions of 'man'.

As people who follow me here know, I have an article which will be available in the next month or two about the ambiguities of Cú Chulainn’s gender and what this says about TBC as a text. I tend towards a transmasculine reading, and suggest one in this article, but that’s certainly not the only possibility. The value of queer and gender theory is that once you start dismantling assumptions about gender in this story, you can have a lot of fun looking at how it’s actually being constructed, rather than just how we assume it’s being constructed.

So I definitely think there’s potential for exploring more facets of gender in TBC than the ones that have already been discussed (by me or by others). And perhaps looking at epithets like this and what they tell us about personalities, appearances, and gender would be a good place to start – because clearly, medieval authors didn’t think it remarkable that a son could inherit the appearance or nature of his mother, or neither Maine Mathremail nor Maine Cotagaib-Uile would have the epithets that they do.

tl;dr: This passage in Táin Bó Cúailnge is probably not implying that the character in question is nonbinary, but there is lots of space for queer readings of this text.

For further reading on the seven Maines and the meaning of their epithets, you might enjoy my CMCS article; there’s a link on my website, which is also where I will also upload the article about Cú Chulainn and gender as soon as it’s available.

I hope this has been useful/informative, and I’m sorry it took me so long to get to it!

#6-8 assorted maines #tain bo cuailnge #the tain #the seven maines #medieval irish #ulster cycle #ask historians

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