#they’re for a community i used to identify with and still feel a sort of connection to and therefore are the closest

[darlinimamess]

also can we talk about how there’s so few popular musicians making gay (mlm) music that isn’t either sexual or sad?

[paperstorm]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of kindness and what some people seem to mean by it vs what it means to me. Because ngl some of the worst people you’ll ever interact with have “treat ppl with kindness” in their social media bios and I’ve been trying to figure out why that is. Why do they think they’re kind when they are so clearly not - or, who are they kind to and who are they not? What sort of social capital is gained through declaring yourself a kind person but never backing it up with actions? What have we gained/lost as a society when we put so much weight in just label of good person but so little weight in caring whether anyone follows through? Why can so many people I know relate to the experience of the meanest people sincerely believing they are kind, and using that as a shield or weapon when it suits them?

I don’t know that I have answers yet but I’ve been thinking about how in my conceptualization

Kindness means being nice - complimenting people, lending a helping hand, keeping negative opinions to yourself sometimes, being happy for others success, being a cheerleader for your loved ones. Kindness DOES NOT mean being a door mat - denying yourself your valid emotions, letting others step on you or manipulate you, bottling up your feelings so as not to cause a scene, keeping the peace at the expense of your own well-being. Being kind also means being kind to yourself.

Kindness means being welcoming - inviting people into your groups, being open to making new friends, identifying when someone is feeling left out and maybe altering your behaviour accordingly. I changed high schools for my last year and in my first class a boy i had never met came over and said “hey you’re new, come sit with us.” That was kind and it has stuck with me to this day. Kindness DOES NOT mean being welcoming to everyone indiscriminately. You can’t throw a party for wolves and sheep where everyone is welcome. Sheep are not safe at that party, and pretending they are is siding with the wolves who will use your party to hunt them. You can’t be welcoming to bigots because you don’t want to make waves and still be a safe person for minorities to exist around. Sometimes kindness necessitates making waves.

Kindness means fostering positive spaces - where the happiness is genuine and laughter is abundant and people feel good about themselves when they’re around you. Kindness DOES NOT mean keeping the peace at any and all cost. That is a veneer of acceptability politics where people don’t feel safe to speak up when they’re being harmed, and it often involves prioritizing the comfort of the majority. Again, you can’t be kind to everyone. So much of what some people seem to mean by kindness boils down to the maintenance of a homeostasis where nobody is ever upset. But through what means is that achieved? Is it real or are people with genuine concerns being told to shut up and pretend to be happy? “Absolutely everyone is welcome!” “It’s not that serious/we keep things light and cheerful around here!” “Fandom is supposed to be a safe space/escape from the real world!” “This is a space free from politics!” read as neutral statements but they aren’t. They are statements that can serve, albeit often unintentionally, to invite bigots into your space by communicating that you won’t lift a finger to evict them if/when they start harming historically oppressed people who are also in your space. Having peaceful spaces is good. Having spaces wherein the peace is maintained through the tacit silencing of minority voices because their discomfort is ‘ruining the vibe’ is an act of cowardice, not kindness.

Idk! Clearly don’t have all the answers or even any answers but I’m releasing these brain worms in the hopes that I can keep searching for additional clarity on this and other things I’m always ruminating about in this messy life.

[alien-ln-disguise]

Help an alien out with their otherkin identity

I consider myself Alienkin and somewhat spacekin because of my Alienkin identity but they’re being put on the probing table and here’s why

(Spacekin has been sorted out, see below)

———

I recently learned of the terms Synpath and Otherhearted

Some people use it interchangeably some don’t. I personally interpret them as separate:

Synpath: Used to describe feeling a profound connection WITH something, but not AS it.

Otherhearted: To identifying strongly WITH something, but not AS it.

For the spacekin part of me I think Space Synpath is more like it. I do not identify AS space itself but I’m connected with space so strongly that it’s definitely more than just “I love it” I had a whole post about it, yall have probably seen it lol.

———

Now that I know that I’m actually a Space Synpath, now onto my Alienkin type.

This one is still actually a little more complicated to me. To kin something is to identify AS something while Otherhearted is to strongly identify WITH something but not AS it while identifying as fully human.

Here’s the thing, I’ve never felt human, I do not connect with humans I’ve never felt like I was part of them just living amongst them. So I thought, okay alienkin because I connect with aliens in a way that feels right, it feels like me, I feel like an alien. I am not human but I feel like an alien.

But that’s where the distinction becomes important: Am I alienkin because I don’t identify as a human and am an alien or am I alienkin because my life experiences living among humans made me feel alien?

Could it be both? That’s a possibility. I do not experience any shifts or phantom limbs, I just feel like I am alien. Perhaps I answered my own question with that sentence alone. I’m not very active in the otherkin/alterhuman community, at most I’ll like and reblog posts I relate to but that’s kinda it? I suppose posting counts, but I don’t actually talk to anyone in the community.

I like having my facts sorted out and I like figuring things out via technicalities sometimes as it helps me understand things better. I’m not strict on this at all, again, I use it to help me understand things. This entire post is basically me trying to reach to the community that is more knowledgeable on the subject of otherkin and alterhuman experiences and their differences.

Here are bullet points in case it’s easier to follow:

I know I am not human in some way non-physically

Ever since I was young I never felt like I was human both from experiences in life and simply inside

I have a strong connection with aliens and space as a whole. I know that my connection with aliens comes from my extreme connection with space but I am aware that me being alienkin is also coincidental

I do not experience shifts, or phantom limbs, or dreams of past lives. I am aware that none of these are requirements for being otherkin but I wanted to add this anyways

I know that it may be up to me to see which one fits me best when it comes to terminology. I know that folks in the community experience different journeys and may have different definitions for different things.

So, in your opinion, my fellow otherkins and alterhumans, would you say I am Alienkin or Alienhearted?

[heyclickadee]

Some kinda silly Techphee head-canons/thoughts under the cut (I wrote this ages ago but never posted it):

1. I’m honestly still not sure that Tech wasn’t trying to flirt back in “Entombed.” Not even necessarily in a serious way, because I don’t think that switch completely flips until “Pabu,” but in a, “Hhmm. She’s interesting,” sort of way, but his flirting language just ended up going completely over Phee’s head.

2. Likewise, I still like that things between them are moving really slowly and that we’ve barely gotten to (kinda clumsy and very mild) mutual flirting. It’s a negotiated relationship and not a whirlwind romance, and I appreciate that.

3. This is partly head-canon, but I also kind of appreciate that both of them are trying to figure this out. Phee has this interesting combination of having a somewhat flirty baseline personality while also being somewhat standoffish in the most extroverted way (I kind of head-canon that she’s one of those super outgoing people who still manages to keep people at arms length and has a vveeerrrry short list of close friends because emotional intimacy is terrifying), and that could potentially make it hard to communicate when she really likes someone.

And then with Tech—I kind of think it’s new territory for him. In a way. I don’t personally head-canon Tech as ace or aro, though I appreciate that other people do, and I honestly don’t have a head-canon either way on whether or not Tech’s ever hooked up with anyone. Maybe he hasn’t, maybe he has, could go either way, for me it just kinda depends on whether he ever had the opportunity or the time. What I think, though, is that any experience he might have with sex or kissing or whatever was limited to one night stands with people he knew he was never going to see again. Phee, though—Tech has had the time to get to know her a bit, and he could potentially have a life with her. And those are two things—time and the chance of a life or an actual romantic relationship with someone—that would’ve never been on the table before because those were things the GAR didn’t allow. That’s what I mean by it being new territory, and that could make someone cautious, however into another person they are.

Tl;dr: They’re both struggling to figure out what’s going on between them and I love them being gently disastrous because of it.

3.5: Kind of an aside, even though I don’t head-canon Tech as ace or aro (I identify very strongly with Tech, and I’m ace, but I also like leaning into the ways I think he’s very much not like me at all), I do actually kind of head-canon Hunter that way. And I mean that I headcanon him as being completely uninterested and even a little confused that other people are. Though I appreciate that other people don’t headcanon Hunter that way. (This is one of those cases where it’s really fun seeing other people’s interpretations).

4. When Tech comes back and if Tech and Phee do end up together, I’m really hoping that they’ll be a bit like Kanan and Hera in Rebels, in that they end up being best friends who are also very in love and extremely married in a science adventure battle couple kind of way. (I also really adore the sibling energy between Phee and Hunter, so I. Like. Need them to be space in-laws). Friendship and romance don’t cancel each other out and can not only co-exist, but strengthen one another as well. I feel like media does us a disservice when it says that romance ruins a friendship or that friendship is a stepping stone or, worse, an obstacle to romance. I want them to steal stuff from the British Space Museum and then also smooch from time to time.

5. I’ll admit that I’m kind of compelled by the fact that Tech and Phee won’t really get to grow old together. Even if they get to live peaceful lives, Tech’s going to be old long before Phee, and he’s going to die before either of them are really ready for it. And there’d be something interesting about one of them—I imagine Tech but it could be either one—saying, “This is going to be over too quickly, and that’s not fair,” and the other going, “No, it’s not—but let’s live life anyway.”

6. I’m on the fence on whether or not Phee and Tech would want kids if they do end up an item, but if they did (I mean, okay, if the writers make them want kids, but if we’re buying into the narrative here), I actually think they’d be good parents. Tech’s kind of already got a kid that he’s pretty good with (there was a learning curve and Hunter’s the main dad, but Tech’s right there co-raising Omega, and she’s his kid/little sister as much as she’s Hunter’s), Phee’s actually pretty good with Omega, too, and Lyana clearly adores Phee. It’s not the same as being primary caretakers, but it’s a step towards not being awful at it.

And it’s not as though they’d be on their own if they did decide to raise kids. (I’m including adoption of the very informal ‘a kid who needs a family and protection found us so we’re parents now’ Star Wars variety as a possibility here, btw). While I don’t think the the batch is going to settle down on Pabu all together all the time after season three (I have thoughts), any kid Tech and Phee would have would probably end up being raised by the wwhoooooolle family. Hunter, Crosshair, Wrecker, Echo, Omega, and probably Shep and Lyana are all gonna be Involved, not to mention the bazillion distant uncles (like Rex) that kid would have. That kid’s getting doted on.

6.5. Another aside, but I’m really curious how Phee and Shep met, and how Phee became part of that little family.

7. Tech’s and Phee’s relationship isn’t the one I’m the most interested in exploring going into season three—the sibling/parent/whatever relationships within clone force 99 are the ones I’m most invested in, and the Techphee stuff has been so low key that I don’t expect it to take precedence over anything else, or think it should —but I am still very invested in it and want to see where it goes.

[johannestevans]

The Straight Male Gaze on Pretty Male Gays

How does it feel when straight men want to fuck us?

A quick little intro — I went ham on this one. I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and it just gave me a lot of feelings.

Warnings throughout this piece for discussion of the film’s gore and violence, the homophobia both in- and out- of universe, sexual violence, homophobia in general. I use a lot of slurs in this one because I self-identify with a lot of them, and a lot of this piece is about the ways in which queer identity is weaponised and not weaponised against us.

----

There’s often a sense [in film and TV] of a woman being desirable as a sort of a trap for men — women are intentionally being desirable to trick men into doing something stupid as they foolishly follow their sexual desires, for which they should suffer.

And the thing is, as a gay man?

I experience that attitude from time to time.

Some of them are men who would ID themselves as queer, but others wouldn’t — and in fact I’d say that like. When I experience this sort of gaze from other queer men, it does feel wholly different.

Because when a queer man wants to fuck me, a queer man who’s involved in the queer community, to some extent, he is more comfortable, more confident, in what it means to be a queer man, what it means to desire and be desired by other men. I’m not saying that all queer men are perfect or that they’ve unlearned every horrible thing they’ve internalised, but like…

Being outwardly and openly gay, and being in community with and around other queer men, you know and recognise what straight men struggle to know and recognise about women — that the other man is a person too, that he has autonomy too, that he’s not an object or a passive target of your desire and sexuality, but a whole other person. You can still objectify other men, sure, but it’s not quite the same.

For cis straight men who desire a man, like… They’re not going to admit to it publicly, but I think that part of the desire for a pretty man is made accessible, or can only be accessed, by thinking of it as they would a woman. Or, even, thinking of that man as less than a woman — an entirely acceptable target to fuck, and even be violent in their sexuality toward. But to admit that to other men, to straight society, would be impossible, right? Because you’d be revealing yourself as a homo.

I often see the straight male gaze directed to women with desire. I infrequently see the queer male gaze directed to men with desire. I very rarely see the straight male gaze directed to men with anything but revulsion.

But tonight, I watched The Nightmare Before Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.

Read on Medium / / Read on Patreon

[femalefern]

After well over a decade on tumblr I guess it was time to make a terf sideblog, lol

I am a lesbian who was involved in the queer/trans community in my city for about a decade and entered into a serious (unfulfilling, primarily but not entirely sexless) long-term relationship with a trans woman (fully and blindly accepting that trans women are women, fully denying my own desires out of a need for love and acceptance). Years later, I am dealing with shame and regret now that I realize how much I let myself get brainwashed and robbed of my own sexuality. The person I dated wasn’t this evil manipulator, no one was forcing me to be there, but I still feel violated, still feel like I was deeply manipulated by a lot of the queer/trans stuff in my 20s that led me into this situation that I thankfully got myself out of. Even before I got out, I was growing skeptical of the cult-like way the queer groups ran my city (a fairly small but very liberal university town). I dared to speak up against a community organizer and was severely cancelled in 2014 before canceling was really a thing. My ex and I were both anti “sex work” and we ended up being harassed in the streets and had our apartment vandalized for helping someone avoid resorting to entering the industry. My relationship thankfully ended with Covid, but not before I had what I can only describe as a mental breakdown complete with my first manic episode that lost me my job, stability, and a lot of friends, and earned me several diagnoses. Luckily with Covid, I got away from any opportunity for in person social events and rediscovered fandom and non-queer lesbians online, which really saved me. Getting into the queer/trans community in my city was a mistake, there’s no other way to put it. As a teenager I didn’t have any great confusion about being a lesbian once I had my big realization, but a severe confusion developed as an adult. It was easy as a kid to figure out and somewhat easy to accept that I only liked women, and came out to various people when I was around 16. And then from like age 18 until Covid, I guess you could say I slowly but surely completely indoctrinated myself, completely and thoroughly went all in, with a lot of help from other people. 

This started I guess with the university lesbians around me telling me they’re queer because gender isn’t binary, which in 2010 was a pretty foreign concept to me, and the underlying message was that queerness was the morally and intellectually superior sexuality to lesbianism (so of course I fairly quickly called myself queer too because if not it was clear I was dumb and didn’t Get It.)

Next came my attraction to and dating a (now identifying) trans man, who began testosterone at the end of the relationship and insisted that being attracted to him meant I wasn’t a lesbian at all, but that I had to be bi/pan, which I did accept with some passive agreement.

Finally, there was a trans woman, who knew and validated I was really a lesbian (as long as I returned that validation), and pursued me (somewhat aggressively) in a way no one had before. But I was seeking any sort of validation and acceptance by this point, since I dealt with a lot of rejection and abandonment, both friend and relationship wise in my 20s. Out of so much detachment and confusion and now deep depression, (I think I also considered myself asexual for a time, as well as nonbinary of course), I went with it. It was serious, we planned on having kids together some day, I was miserable by the end. But I was so comfortable in my misery that I wanted it to continue, afraid of change, until my mental breakdown blew everything up and this person had the sense to end it for me, and I am thankful for that. 

It didn’t help that of all the lgbt people I know, I barely knew a single lesbian. Ultimately, bi people, gay men, and trans people will always greatly outnumber us. Not to mention I spent a huge amount of time studying this shit in grad school. A wasted education, lol (I am happily self employed now though, so it all works out.)

Today, for the first time in my almost 30 years, I am dating an actual lesbian, and it’s only with that and some distance from my past and all my processing that I can really understand how unhappy my life was and how detached I was from my sexuality. 

Despite coming out as a teenager, I find myself resonating more with late bloomer lesbians who only find their happiness after years of denying themselves and focusing on men. I wish I could find people who went through the same experience as me because I am still processing my mistakes years later. I don't want judgement or sympathy but I wish I could talk about this with someone who gets it. Please feel free to reach out if any of these resonated with you. 

tl;dr: lesbians DO get coerced into dating trans women, the queer/trans community fucked me up a bit (a lot), but i’m happier now 

[clanoffelidae]

I’m always scared of jinxing myself by opening my mouth and saying I’m ‘not physically disabled anymore’ or that ‘my cyclic vomiting is gone’; because there’s no cure and we don’t know why it sometimes just… stops. There’s not even really any medication to manage it you just kind of… try to work through it and manage symptoms and side effects as best you can. Namely, the dehydration due to excessive vomiting being the main concern. (Have had abdominal spasms due to becoming dehydrated from it before. Took me 5-6 minutes to army crawl six feet to the shower, wiggle out of my clothes, and stretch up to turn on the hot water to try and soothe the muscles I was in so much pain. It was also like 4am and I was at a homestay in another country so fuck me I guess lol. Fortunately my homestay actually spoke English; which worked out because I speak Spanish decently well so I was making an active effort to converse with her and practice before I got sick, she was extremely helpful because I mainly needed help with specific vocabulary/phrases and she could help me translate them, and then when I got sick and was so exhausted I could barely communicate in English anymore I was able to drop the Spanish and still be understood and given help. That’s a tangent tho lol sorry)

And that’s true of a lot of physical disabilities, sadly, so I’m sure many of you can understand why I’m scared of it. Because I’m one of the lucky ones, even when my condition was at it’s worst I had more good days than bad. One of the defining characteristics of CVS is that in between episodes you would never know something is wrong with us.

And sometimes people just… ‘grow out of it’, so to speak. It most commonly affects children, even being thought of as a pediatric disease, and then just goes away when they get older. I was a weird case, I had two sporadic episodes in high school and then it hit me hard basically as soon as I got to college; it only ever happened when I was an adolescent/adult.

During the worst of it I would have episodes as little as 3 weeks apart; I’d be in severe agony and vomiting profusely for around 24 hours, take several days for the pain to go away (the episode was over but I was sore after the vomiting), and about a week for the brain fog and lethargy to clear up. I knew my stomach was empty, I knew I had nothing in it, but it felt so swollen and I was convinced it was about to tear open like an overfilled balloon. The condition is believed to be related to migraine headaches and I believe it - my severe migraines are the throbbing kind where it feels like my head is about to explode, and that is the exact same kind of pain I was feeling in my stomach. Those same, unique qualities that differentiate the pain of a migraine from another headache were exactly what I felt in my abdomen. I was also light and sound sensitive, seeking darkness and solitude; although it didn’t cause literal pain to be exposed to light and sound like with a migraine headache, it stressed me out for ‘seemingly no reason’, overwhelming me and increasing my pain as a result of the stress and desire for the stimulus to go away.

My last episode was in 2019. I only even had frequent episodes for a little over 2 years.

And I’m still deathly afraid of every new medication I try because I don’t know why it stopped. Nothing about my lifestyle changed, nothing about my habits. I was never able to identify any triggers like with my headaches, it just sort of ‘happened’ as far as I could tell.

I have no idea why it started and no idea why it stopped.

And I’m constantly fucking terrified that I’ll fuck something up and it’ll come back, that this time of peace and ‘health’ is temporary. I’m so fucking scared because it hurts so fucking much and I don’t want to be in pain again.

I don’t want to be in pain again.

And I don’t know why I’m bringing this up or what I’m trying to say really. I guess I just want to get my fears written down because they’re circling in my head again.

And I guess I also want to say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry to everyone who suffers with a ‘hidden’ condition that no one believes you about, I’m sorry for everyone who is barely dragging themselves through it day by day; in pain, exhausted, and with the people around them burnt out on offering help because ‘why can’t you just get better already’.

I’m lucky, I’m so very, very lucky that for whatever reason my episodes just… stopped. They just stopped. And even still I live aware of the sword dangling over my head, never believing that the dragon is actually dead and is only just sleeping, still there to be reawakened if I mess up (when I don’t have the slightest idea what or where that invisible line I must never cross is), and I never dare to say that I’m ‘cured’ because I don’t believe in miracles like that. It’s a miracle that they stopped, and I’m grateful for it, but I will never dare to believe that they couldn’t come roaring right back any day.

Disability can happen to anyone, and I’m vividly aware that my old pain could be stumbled into at any minute, along with any number of other things, and I’m so sorry to everyone who still lives with their pain that is a constant companion. Mine is sleeping, but I remember it well for how it burned like the sun, to the point that I was able to identify sporadic episodes years after the fact that I had thought only stomach bugs because they were so horrible.

Pain is good, but not like this.

Pain is meant to be a teacher, a protector. A warning system of ‘hey! Don’t do that! We could get hurt!’ Your body’s way of keeping you safe and alive; don’t touch the fire because it hurts, don’t touch the fire because it could kill you. Pain is life’s way of steering you away from death, of keeping you safe and alive; letting you know there’s damage so you know to keep that part safe while it heals and use it less. Because when you’re about to walk into the flames your body doesn’t have the time to sit down and explain it to you gently, it has to alert you ‘NOW. PULL BACK NOW!’

Pain is meant to be a good thing; it’s meant to keep you alive and to protect you, to teach you about danger so you know how to be safe, and go let you know when you’ve been damaged so that you can make sure to give the damage time to heal.

But it’s not meant to be there all the time; it’s not meant to be constantly flashing the alarms when there’s nothing to be done, your body trying to help and let you know that something’s wrong when there’s nothing you can do. It’s not meant to linger until it breaks you, to weigh on your shoulders until you struggle to see the good past it. But just like with any good thing, so often does it become ill.

Pain is a constant companion for too many of us, and I’m so, so sorry for that.

You shouldn’t have to be strong.

I’m sorry.

I just wanted to let you all know that.

[planetofsnarfs]

When I sit down at a bar in Brooklyn with my cousin — a recent college grad from Korea who is visiting America for the first time — I have one burning question: How’s your love life? She keeps her ballcap pushed down low and presses her lips into a tight line.

“I’m not interested,” she says. “I just don’t trust men. You don’t know what they’re thinking these days — whether they’re one of the guys with misogynistic thoughts. It’s so normalized. Why would I even risk it?” she says.

She does not want to date. She feels no need to get married. Her ideal life is to form a tight-knit community with other single women. “It’s not just me,” she says. “All my friends rarely date these days for that reason. These issues are all we talk about when we get together.”

My cousin and her friends are not alone. Across Korea, young women are swearing off men, influenced by the 4B movement, a radical feminist campaign that originated in Korea in the late 2010s. The four Bs stand for bi-hon (no marriage), bi-yeonae (no dating), bi-chulsan (no birthing) and bi-sex (no sex).

The movement formed in response to growing gender inequality and violence against women: Korea has one of the largest gender pay gaps in the world, and brutal murders of women — in subway stations, on rooftops and in their own homes, often at the hands of men they were dating — headline news shows daily. Amid so much political turmoil and bloodshed, 4B activists say the only way to make women safe — and convince society to take their safety seriously — is to swear off men altogether until something changes.

And now, in the wake of Donald Trump’s reelection, 4B is going viral on U.S. social media among women who are furious with the men who helped the former president clinch a win. On TikTok alone, top videos have gained millions of views, and one widely shared tweet about the 4B movement post-election now has 450,000 likes and 21 million views at time of writing.

It’s too soon to say if the 4B movement is here to stay in the United States. But even if it isn’t, the surge in interest says something about the social forces unleashed by the 2024 presidential election. An uptick in misogyny has already been evident — just look at the “your body, my choice” comments by men online — similar to what’s been seen in Korea, suggesting that this kind of feminist reaction could take hold. And even if women don’t explicitly take on the 4B label en masse, the movement’s message of bodily autonomy, and the anger that drove the conversation in the first place, could have a major impact not just on American politics, but on American life overall — just as it has in Korea.

Think of the movement as a labor strike, says Soha, a Korean feminist who provided only her online nickname for fear of being harassed for supporting feminism. She says it’s about rejecting the additional work women put in to appeal to men, maintain a household and follow patriarchal values — the kind of work that is more widespread in South Korea’s more socially conservative society. It’s the type of labor all women can identify with and push back against with one powerful voice. Many women eschew the 4B label, often in fear of harassment, but still live by its principles. My cousin describes it as an act of survival, a way to shield women from rapidly rising violence, avoid toxic conversations with misogynistic men and resist an anti-feminist government that is actively trying to roll back women’s rights.

Just as gender has become a political predictor in Korea, it’s shaping elections in the United States. The turnout demographics from the U.S. presidential election are still being sorted out, but a few things are crystal clear. The Republican ticket used male identity and gender grievances as a successful political tool, courting the “bro” vote and attributing Kamala Harris’ success to her identity. Young men helped Donald Trump win the election. Many young women are distraught. It’s an acceleration of the already widening gender gap in American politics, including an increasing number of young men rejecting feminism. An NBC News pollfound that 57 percent of women backed Harris, compared to 40 percent of men — with women sprinting to the left while men flirt with the right.

Some U.S. women are seeking both revenge and relief from the consequences of a Republican trifecta, including a rollback of reproductive rights and a broader cultural acceptance of sexist rhetoric. For some online, the answer is right in front of them: the 4B movement from South Korea.

Like the U.S., South Korea’s gender divide played a striking role in South Korea’s most recent presidential election. Yoon Suk Yeol, then the conservative candidate, secured a victory in 2022 by catering to young men who felt left behind during a rapid push for gender equality, especially after the country’s #MeToo reckoning in 2018 tanked the careers of several actors and politicians. Young men cheered on Yoon’s declarations of being an “anti-feminist,” saying that “structural discrimination based on gender” does not exist, despite the fact that the country regularly ranks near the bottom in the World Economic Forum’s gender equality index. To this day, young men perceive that discrimination against men is more serious than against women, even though 50 percent of women between the ages of 19-29 say they’ve experienced sexual discrimination at work, compared to 30 percent of their male peers. From 2021 to 2023, female sexual assault victims saw a 15 percent rise. Many American women fear the same could happen here.

4B messaging is already echoing on U.S. social media. One X user advertises the 4B movement as a way to “take control of your life under *him*.” Another user writes, “We need to start considering the 4B movement … We can’t let these men have the last laugh … we need to bite back.” One TikToker has posted she’s joining the 4B movement after breaking up with her Republican boyfriend.

“When I saw the movement go viral in the U.S., I thought, even U.S. women must be at their limit,” says Yeonhwa Gong, a Korean 4B follower who has written on the topic. “But I don’t feel too bad that it has come to this point — if anything, I think of it as a necessary action that had been pushed back for a while and is now finally happening.”

For women who adopt the 4B mindset, not even men who claim to be on the same political spectrum can provide a safe space. With so many men opposing feminism, and even a video on how pro-Trump men could hide their political beliefs from the women they date going viral, how do you know if he’s telling the truth? “A lot of women are just tired of men, and worrying about ‘what if?’” my cousin told me. “I had thought at some point I’d want to find a good man, no matter how hard that would be. At this point now though, I don’t feel that need.”

The 4B movement might seem too radical to get far in the U.S., but the fact that it’s gained traction suggests that at least a number of young women feel more vulnerable since the reelection of Donald Trump than they did before it. The 4B discourse in the U.S. “prompts us to reflect on how much society has taken for granted or overlooked the rights and the freedoms that women rightly deserve,” says Hyejin Jeon, a University of Maryland doctorate student from Korea who is currently analyzing her country’s feminism movements.

If the movement takes hold, it could potentially lead to some of the same outcomes as have been seen in Korea, where women are reconsidering dates with men out of suspicion and lack or trust, young people are marrying and having children at lower rates, and both men and women are expressing deep loneliness. Politicians could take advantage of the divide for their own gains, leaning harder into gender-divide politics, and even outright sexist rhetoric. And even women may turn against one another; American women are already arguing about the inclusivity of the movement, with some saying that women with male partners have no part in 4B. Such discourse has long fractured feminist groups in Korea, according to Minyoung Moon, a Clemson University lecturer who published a report about the backlash against feminism in South Korea. Married women are seen as "serving the needs of men," she says, alienating the group from what could be a more inclusive movement.

And then there’s the danger of backlash from the right. “The long-term effect I see is very negative, because they chose the radical strategy, giving men and anti-feminists reason to hate them even more,” Moon says. “And when I look at the 4B movement … on YouTube, I already see the conservative party people bashing against liberal women.”

Still, at least for now, the movement appears on the upswing in both countries as women say that the model of life they’d expected — dating, marriage, house, kids — looks, increasingly, like a trap set by men who don’t see them as equals. And women like my cousin want alternatives.

“To live with friends that are close to me, to have the ability to live on my own — living like that is my dream,” she says.

[formerlycookierunauprompts]

Sun & Star dynamic (Arcane + Golden):

Yay!! Let’s talk about this once tragic yuri, the girlies of all time! We’ve all heard of the sun and moon dynamics in all sorts of mediums, mayhaps even the rare moon and star dynamic as well. But never the sun and stars, never them. So… what would this dynamic be like? To answer that were look at the pair no one expected in our small little community, that of Arcane egg and Golden Butter. Let’s see how they fit into this lovely polycule- let’s go!

Important note: these notes / document sections will mostly be going over the dynamic of the main storyline and after the three get together. There will be brief mentions of before the fall- but unfortunately we don’t have much info on Goldie be for the fall. Besides that before the fall the two had a very close friendship, like very close! 

-first of all, no one saw this coming. So to say the least this is a very low-key dynamic. No one really saw this coming- not even the parties involved.

-but this relationship makes sense. Their very similar to each other so they mesh well, and where they do differ from each other they still mesh.

-their both kind and considerate people, both have very bubbly excitable sides, their crafts are very similar in quite a few aspects! Even if arcane has many, MANY crafts. (She’s very flexible) etc.

-Like the sun and stars their made of the same stuff, there's a warmth to the two of them. A vibrancy!

-they are both introverts! But they’re two different flavors of introverts. Golden is what one might call a more… traditional introvert. quiet, a bit more soft spoken, private about their feelings, social interactions tend to drain her batteries, etc etc. While arcane need’s social interactions a lot more, she tends to be loud, a bit clumsy, she has a long array of friends, etc. but she’s still very much an introvert.

-as a result when they're not recharging by themselves they tend to recharge together. They usually pop in a movie and just chill, they might do something with their hands. Arcane might chatter quietly mindlessly, but she doesn’t expect an answer; she just does that naturally. Otherwise they just bask in each other's presence. It’s soothing really, basking in each others natural light~ (I’m so cheesy :D)

-and even in their differences they compliment each other, arcane is more emotional / feels their emotions very strongly. As a result of this and their strong empathy they pick up the mood shifts in others easily, even if they can’t really identify what’s wrong. So they are able to sense when something is bothering their precious Goldie. Really helps their very emotionally intelligent, even if they don’t word it quite right sometimes.

-Another thing from Arcane is that she's a very silly cookie! Not the obvious type of silly and theater kid that shadow milk is, but she is silly. Example when you hug her she can choose to make squeaky toy noises. It entertains Golden immensely!

-Now, for Golden. She’s a very… peaceful cookie is how I would describe it. Arcane finds peace with her, her buzzing mind quiets around her. If only a little bit. Goldie’s very presence actually helps Arcane sleep, for even when she isn’t haunted by an otherworldly force. She’s a bit of an insomniac.

-Golden is also a fellow creator! They get to share that joy together, go through the process of making and then redrafting over and over- together! Her more….stoic nature helps arcane a lot as well, arcane doesn’t have to be anxious around her. She doesn’t feel shame, it puts Arcanes heart at ease.

-… the two do… envy each other, if only a little bit. Or they used to.

-Golden was envious of Arcanes' vibrancy, her morals, her creations at times even. She was like the sun, warm, enviting, and energetic. Her will though- that was the real kicker. Her defiance, her willingness to dream of a better world. Her fire to make it so… she was everything she never was….right? She was just a star, a small blip in the sky. Arcane was the sun- she was not.

-But Arcane was envious as well, sure she was the sun! But… but everyone loved her, they loved Golden's light. She was like inspiration herself, she inspired creation. They all loved her too! They spoke of her gentleness, her kindness, her grace, her… her everything. But Arcane…? She was TOO much. Her robotics were… unnerving to cookie kind, her dealings with the spirit world? Too weird, too creepy. She was often described as too intense, a little destructive at times with how enthusiastic and clumsy she could get.

-………. Hell….. her precious moon was in the same sky as her- they…. They were perfect together….. they were perfect without her…. maybe the sun was always destined to be apart from the glittering night sky- from her moon. From her star…. How tragic…

-or, maybe not. Maybe… the stars and sun could learn from each other? Share their light? Their warmth? Yeah… they may be able to reconcile yet- they're from the same thread after all. They can get each other in a way most couldn’t, quitely.

——————————————————————————————————

so? Wha chu think? Anything you want to add, I really want to add more but my brain is not cooperating! Anyways I hope you enjoyed! Have a good one!

YURI!!! i love them, i love them so much

tbh they deserve to be happy together. love that for them

also this is the funniest gbc timeline because they both left Shadow Milk in the dust in favor of Yuri and honestly that's a girlboss moment. Shadow Milk dies because of the power of yuri/j

[gay-artificer]

Thinking about vulture grub summoning signals.

Vultures respond to signal, but it also seems that the grubs themselves are aware of when the signals fail- I was previously assuming it was a case of risky behavior on the part of the grubs since if the vulture doesn’t find anything, it takes the grubs. This originally read to me as a sort of fail state the grub would ideally want to avoid, and that calling the vulture was a means of driving off predators by intentionally attracting a threat that would pick a bigger target. A badly timed call to the vulture would result in the selection of the grub, but a reasonable threat to the grubs safety would be something worth that risk. This is more or less how even slugcats use them (if they aren’t players who feel bold enough to go straight for the vulture, they’re mostly used to get lizards out of the way) This would be a fairly straightforward mutual relationship to evolve, with some risk to the grub. We can assume its not a unintentional relationship due to the fact that if blocked, but potentially able to move the light into the sky, grubs will make some effort to get their signal visible by wiggling over a bit. This specific effort to at least get the signal skyward suggests that its not merely an unrelated sign vultures seek out, but rather pretty intentionally targeted at them. Its not impossible that vultures and grubs are related directly, but I feel like its not as strongly implied as some people suggest. It really reads more as mutualism vs. a parent - offspring relationship. Especially since vultures do kill grubs freely. That’s not unheard of with animals (and there isnt any particular reason why vultures would be encouraged not to, with seemingly no way to identify grubs as their own offspring) but in this case assumption of relation really adds little to their relationship other than “reason why they cooperate” It’s the inclusion of the “failed” signal that I find interesting, as it suggests the grubs are aware when the signal doesn’t work and communicate that as important data (And yes, in terms of game design this is a good thing for the player). But if you were attempting straightforward predator deterrence via alerting bigger threats, it would generally be better to feign success in the hopes that the current threat would respond anyway. So a ‘green’ signal would always be the ideal... so I think the better concept is that the signal is actually an area warning.

In several types of plants, predation from long-term predators such as caterpillars can prompt the omission of specialized chemical signals that are designed to attract other insects and predators who target the offending species. Dealing with a certain type of caterpillar? Call a wasp that is an exclusive parasite of that caterpillar. The predators benefit from responding due to the presence of the prey, and the plant is protected by having predators kept near it. Another type of chemical signal sent by threatened plants is actually for the benefit of other plants- they warn each other about grazing or disease threats. Even if plants can’t exactly get up and walk away, the warning allows for them to prepare ahead of time and hopefully decrease their own damages. I think vulture grubs, with a bit of self sacrificial behavior are trying similar with vultures- and communicating failure to summon as a means of notifying their surroundings that the desired defense mechanism has failed. Vulture presence would be a pretty noteworthy thing to announce (especially given that they fly, and thus might be subject to some pretty heavy migratory patterns) if it was a primary defense mechanism. Since we also don’t know exactly how the worms get where they are, it could even be a means of encouraging whatever parent animal they have to chose more protected areas. And since the grubs are not immune from vulture targeting, they still benefit from primarily being subterranean and in locations unlikely to be directly scouted by active vulture colonies- but most of these locations are still fairly close to open air, where it might be feasible to send SOS still if carried from their initial position. and if you wanna get very risky, sending the fail signal might also be a plead to other non-vulture predators. “There’s no vultures, please come in-fight” would be... very high risk, for a lot of reasons, but many of the species in rain world are threatening enough to each other that using them as a last resort in lieu of a more favorable species is reasonable. With the overall idea being that you make the immediate area risky enough that the remaining colony of grubs (since they spawn in groups, even if they’re mostly dead in-game) isn’t completely harvested.

[emblazons]

Why do you think Bylers tend to like Will more than Mike? The GA obviously thinks he's just a bad friend/bf but I've noticed that even Bylers who think Mike is queer tend to prefer Will.

Hi anon! This is such a timely question—I’m doing an “narrative arc analysis” of Byler (Will & Mike, both separately and together), & @magentamee and I were talking about exactly this yesterday 😂 honestly…I’m going to include a sentence from that incoming analysis and then what I said on discord…and then explain lol

(forgive me—this got a little long lmao)

I think for me the revelation that the reason Mike's arc feels so frustrating / irritating / stagnant is BECAUSE his arc is DISCOVERING who he wants to be and not him trying to get back to who he feels he is inherently. Like. With Mike his identity is nebulous to HIM. He doesn't know. It's fluid. He knows (vaguely) what he does and doesn't like, but he doesn't have a "this is what/who I am" energy like Will. Will struggles because he KNOWS who he is, and moving in the world with that knowledge sucks sometimes. Mike struggles because he DOESNT KNOW who he is, and figuring that out has been a mess for him and everyone, because he's been TOLD who he's supposed to be...but the undefined thing he actually is doesn't fit that. That is super common in young people…but not in young CHARACTERS. We expect characters to be clear and refined with identities we can follow most of the time...not to be figuring it out right alongside us.

Now, to your question…I think people (even queer people) tend to not like Mike as much because, as a character, he is messier and less clearly defined than Will is—because he doesn’t know what he wants, and moves entirely from a place of insecurity. Most fictional characters we fall in love with are lovable because they do things based on a clearly defined set of personality traits we can make sense of, relate to, and even admire—and as Will is a queer person who struggles not because he doesn’t know he’s gay but because of how external factors affect him…it’s easier to identify and root for him, even when he does things like lie about his painting.

That isn’t really the case with Mike. If anything, Mike’s arc is defined by the fact that he has no idea what he wants or what will make him happy with any real clarity, and (most of the time) the messes that he finds himself in are of his own making—even down to things like his “it’s not my fault you don’t like girls,” which…even if you realize what caused it is an asshole thing to say (lmao).

Now…forgive me if this sounds a little brutal (I genuinely don’t mean it in any negative way lmao) but: the reason I think people don’t like Mike as much even in queer spaces is because no one who hasn’t ever viewed themselves as contributing to their own problems is going to relate to him, because a lot of people (especially young ones) don’t want to acknowledge that they don’t know who they are, are working through it, and have made messes in the process.

In queer circles especially, where a lot of us have had to work through a lot of internalized homophobia and have generally just not felt as “clearly defined” as our community has a tendency to want us to be, a character like Mike—who represents the person who has no idea what their label is, is trying to sort through who they’re in love with, who is still working through the values of their upbringing and who makes a million mistakes trying to get there—reflects a person who a lot of people either don’t like even in real life…or who they don’t want to acknowledge they’re like themselves.

To identify with Mike is to admit that you don’t know what you want sometimes. It’s to admit that you have shit to work through, can and do make major mistakes, and have done things in past (or even at present!) that are solely just you being a little naive or arrogant or confused. It’s to acknowledge that queerness can be confusing and nebulous—that we can date people we don’t love romantically but still care for in the process of learning ourselves, and can make a mess of even our most important relationships without intending to.

When you’re young, Will is easier to love as a queer person because in a way he’s who we want to be—clear cut in his identity, loving, kind, and only making the kind of mistakes that are easy to understand. Mike is harder. We are walking though the process of Mike figuring out who he is right alongside him in his insecurity and confusion, and that’s extremely hard (even in real life)!

To appreciate Mike as a character requires self-reflection and radical honesty with yourself—the ability to say “yes, I did and maybe do still struggle with my queer identity, and have made messes in my naïveté / ignorance that I can’t blame other people for.” And maybe that’s just me getting a little older & empathetic talking but. You asked, so that’s how I see it lol 🙃

[fox-steward]

I wonder if liberal SSA people might be extra invested in and defensive of drag queens because they fulfill a sort of unofficial sacred clown role that has been key in getting our foot in the door with straight people who would otherwise consider us a threat or a target. Drag queens wear elaborate brightly-colored clownlike ensembles that, although feminine, are distinctly different from what women actually wear, they perform song & dance & spoken routines, and they officiate at cultural events. They're a big part of why straights consider us fun and cool.

In theory we're supposed to be allowed to go about our business as regular people now, but everyone knows there's still homophobia everywhere. I'm thinking some people get subconsciously panicky at the idea of taking away the #1 thing that makes us fun to the straights (and is also clearly and obviously identified with gays in a way that is impossible to miss, unlike the arts in general), because if we can't entertain them, they might decide to go back to attacking us.

this is an interesting point and i’m glad you mentioned it. i want to challenge the idea that drag queens’ outfits are “distinctly different from what women actually wear” because they’re actually embellishments, which is important to to understanding the level of mockery of women that drag is. sexualized and restrictive clothing is expected of women, heels, makeup, fake lashes and nails—that drag queens take it to the extreme shows the lampoon, but what are they lampooning? one of the actual methods of restricting women’s bodies, participation in society, money, time, etc.

but otherwise, i see your point. there’s a bit of a sanctified role for drag queens within LGB communities, and as you rightly mentioned, it’s just about the only thing the larger heterosexual culture has happily accepted of us, so it can feel painful to look it squarely in the face and see it for the degradation of women that it is.

i’m not sure if fear of the vitriolic homophobia that used to be so common underlies the reluctance to criticize drag by LGB people. it certainly reads as plausible, though it doesn’t seem the simplest explanation to me. i am sure it plays a role, even if subconsciously like you said.

but to me, the occam’s razor here is misogyny. broadly speaking, no one gives a shit about misogyny, it’s the oppression that doesn’t count. so when (gay) men engage in this deeply misogynistic practice, it is easy to accept and celebrate. our culture has a long history and rich current practice of accepting and celebrating deeply misogynistic things/art—beauty pageants, fashion modeling, women’s clothing, pornography, blonde jokes, makeup influencers, etc. drag is just the dish that LGB culture brought to the misogyny potluck. and people hold onto it for all kinds of reasons, though i don’t think yours is incorrect, just incomplete.

[bluemoon160]

【IᑎTᖇOᗪᑌᑕTIOᑎ】 💙🌌

Hey everyone! My name is Rosalind but I also go by Ross or Ros. OR you could call me by my internet names Blue or Bluemoon if you’d like! (It’s a lot of names I know lol sorry. Just pick whatever).

I’m a 20yo artist, writer, and editor who will be mostly focusing on fanart, self ship, furry content, and maybe some cosplay on this blog. I do have a business focused on my published books, OCs, and editing services which you can find here if you’re interested. I’m more active over on those accounts since I work on that stuff almost full time now but I try and post fan/personal content when I can. This blog specifically will be a place for all my self indulgent interests. I may not be super active here but will try to anyway :)

【ᗪIᔕᑕᒪᗩIᗰEᖇ】

Skip ahead to read more about me, my, interests, and who I ship with, etc. But in the meantime, I need to get this out of the way and say that I really wanna make new friends here but I’m also hesitant to rejoin any sort of self ship and/or fan communities because of how many horrible experiences I’ve had with them before. Perhaps Tumblr is different but I wanted to put this out here for my own peace of mind lol. So please be patient with me. I grew up in fandom and self ship spaces that had constant arguments about literally everything. I didn’t even know what half of these discourses were even about and everything I’ve learned has been against my will. So no, this is not me “taking a side”, I just don’t want to be apart of drama anymore. My morals are this: live and let live unless you’re supporting/romanticizing anything immoral. If you have genuine critiques about how I portray certain things then definitely let me know since I’m always concerned about how I represent stuff, but aside from that, this is just a blog to talk about stuff I like so let’s keep it chill please. 🧍‍♂️

【ᗩᗷOᑌT ᗰE】

⭐My full name Rosalind B. Sterling (or you can call me by the other names listed above)

⭐I’m 20 (covered that lol)

⭐I’m bi and aroace (I also sometimes use the term procul but I don’t identify with it as a sexuality. Just an add on term for my asexuality to explain how my sexual attraction fades away once my relationship with someone becomes real).

⭐I’m genderfluid and my pronouns are she/he/they

⭐I’m mixed race/Puerto Rican

⭐I’m neurodivergent (OCD, MaDD, and a few other things) so tone tags would be great to use around me but they’re not required

⭐I currently live Ohio (yes I’ve heard all the jokes and they’re honestly pretty accurate lmao)

⭐My favorite colors are aqua, bright purple, hot pink, and neon green

【ᖴ/O's】

Note: some of these characters might come from controversial media. I just like them for personal/creative/self indulgent reasons so don’t interact if these make you uncomfortable.

“Main” f/o’s

(Putting this in quotes since I hardly ever talk about these characters nowadays. They’ve just been my main for a while and I feel too attached to take them off the list)

⭐Dan {Dan Vs.} (Started shipping 7 years ago)

⭐Gary {Final Space} (Starting shipping 6 years ago).

Current main:

⭐ Alastor {Hazbin Hotel} (Started shipping 4 years ago) And before anyone comes after me with the “but he’s aroace!” comments, I know that and I don’t erase it. I’m aroace too and kind of imagine him and my S/I being in a possible QPR type thing. I still have developing to do. I just like the thought of two aroaces hitting it off and bonding closely. I take a lot of comfort in him as a fellow aroace so leave me be please 😭

⭐The Narrator and Stanley {The Stanley Parable} (This one’s a polyship and is pretty recent. Been shipping for about 7 months now)

Other f/o’s:

⭐Pinkie pie {MLP}

⭐Reagan {Inside job}

⭐Jinx {Arcane}

Other characters I like but don't consider f/o’s:

⭐Connor {Detroit Become Human}

⭐The Warden {Superjail}

⭐Andre {Inside Job}

⭐Ken {Barbie Movie}

⭐Mike {fnaf movie}

⭐️Rarity {MLP}

⭐Reigen {Mob Psycho 100}

⭐Archer {Archer} (It's always the walking red flags that get me 😔)

Familial/platonic f/o’s:

The only ones I can think of rn is Angel Dust from Hazbin Hotel. I kinda see them all like family tbh but specifically Angel Dust. Also maybe Kirk from Star Trek. Like we’d definitely be besties I’m so fr.

There’s probably more but I’d have to think about it.

【KIᑎs】

⭐Reagan {Inside job}

⭐Brett {Inside job}

⭐Moxxie {Helluvaboss}

⭐️ Millie {Helluvaboss}

⭐Tina {Bob’s burgers} (This one’s so funny to me but it’s so true. She’s literally me in every way possible😭)

Am I comfy sharing any of my f/os and kins?

Yes! I’m fine having doubles. I used to hate it a few years back but now that my mental health is a little more in check and I don’t have to rely on self shipping for major comfort like I used to, I no longer feel bothered by that. It was unhealthy anyway. Not to judge anyone who hates having doubles. I understand folks have pretty valid reasons for it. I just realized the attachment I had to these characters was turning into an unhealthy kind of obsession and was hurting me more than helping. I’m out of that place now luckily. I still self ship for comfort reasons but it’s not as in ease as it was before and mostly just for funsies now. If you're comfy sharing and we have doubles, totally message me so we can gush and ramble together! I love doing that 🫶💖

【ᗰY ᖴᑌᖇᔕOᑎᗩ】

Putting this here too since I'll probbaly be sharing furry stuff whenever I get the chance. So here is my eyesore of a fursona which is a wolf/fox/bat hybrid with a scene kid aesthetic who looks like every middle school edgelord oc deisgn vomited into one character. But idc honestly. I’m not doing anything serious with her and am just having fun. I also might use her for self shipping if I end up F/Oing any anthro characters but idk.

Art credit goes to coral-kun

【IᑎTEᖇEᔕTᔕ】

⭐Anything sci fi, crime, or comedy

⭐Any time era from before the 2010s. Though I specifically love the 20s-50s, and 80s-2000s the best :)

⭐Cartoons. Specifically for adults. Adult swim is literally my go to channel lol

⭐Reading, writing, art, crafting, etc

⭐Space, science, dinosaurs/paleontology and history

⭐Animals and zoos

⭐Conspiracy theories and mysteries

⭐Anything horror, paranormal, or creepy pasta

【ᑕᒪOᔕIᑎG】

And that's it! I hope I can meet some new friends and stuff but also predict that my reach won't be all that huge since I've never had massive luck with algorithms. Especially as of late. But if you're seeing this, don't be afraid to message me or interact! I love meeting new folks :3

[nicollekidman]

hii abby sorry if this is a question you like. do not care to answer. but ik you identified as gay for a long time and now identify as bisexual, and I’ve identify as gay for several years now but just recently sort of come into the idea that I might actually be interested in men and I’m sort of like,,idk how I deal with that?? I also feel a little strange because a lot of people in my life Know that I “am” gay (and make jokes about it pretty regularly) and I feel sort of like I’d be doing something wrong in their eyes or messing up. I like to think I’m fairly open but it scares me a little to have Done Something Wrong and I was just wondering if maybe you had any advice? thank you if you even read this rambling <33

truly deeply and completely non-flippantly it does not matter! i know that the optics and expectations of “identifying” and representation culture make that distinction seem like a really important thing that you’re signing a contract about and everyone is monitoring to see if you Betray Your Identity but that’s not the case! labels are there to help us, to guide us towards a community and a deeper understanding of ourselves and the way we relate to others/the world/our history. there is so much overlap in the lived experience of lgbt people, so many of us have discovered new things about ourselves and changed our language of self… it’s nothing to be ashamed of and you’re not doing anything wrong!! being a person is a constant evolution and if, for you, that means exploring attraction to men, then good for you!!! if your friends have to think a little harder about the jokes they’re apparently cracking around you, then that’s their problem! you are still exactly who you are and no one can be mad about that. as someone who’s gone through a similar experience where labels currently function as a cheeky little thought experiment more than anything else, i can say that they mean only what you need them to 💕

[angstyaches]

Would you be willing to make a sort of species guide for StW? Like what are the characteristics of your vampires, werewolves/shapeshifters, demons, demon eaters and witches? And how might someone identify one? Here are some q’s to get the ideas flowing but feel free to do your own thing or to decline if you want us to learn these things through the stories

Vampires: Do they sparkle in the sun or have an aversion to garlic? Do they get crazed by the scent of blood or are they more in control? Are they cold to the touch? Can they reproduce or do certain or all biological functions cease at a certain point in the transformation? What is the transformation process/how many stages are there and what characteristics does the vampire have at each stage? Is anyone who is bitten by a vampire turned or can a vampire feed on a human without turning them? Can a transformation be reversed? At what stage of the transformation can a vampire turn others? Do all vampires have the same abilities? Are abilities inherited somehow or are they unique to each vampire? What is the vampire social structure like?

Werewolves/Shapeshifters: Can they eat chocolate? Do they only transform during the full moon or can they do so at will? Is there a physical/mental toll either pre, during or post transformation? Are they stronger/faster/do they have heightened senses while not transformed? What makes someone a shapeshifter? Is it inherited genetically or do you have to be turned by another shapeshifter? How do you get turned? Do they have a pack or community or are they generally solitary?

Demons/Hybrids: Can they possess someone at will or do they have to be invited? Do demons have a physical form or are they more of a shadowy entity? Could they leave their host if they wanted to or do they form a dependence? Is the bond generally symbiotic? How does the bond affect the host and is this different depending on the type of demon? Does the host experience physical changes when possessed? Can the host generally access and use the demons abilities at will? Where do the demons come from? Is there a community or are they solitary beings?

Demon Eaters: Are they more physically capable than humans? Can they sense demons or do they have to stumble upon them/hunt them down? How do they hunt demons? Are there clear signs to indicate a demon has been in the area or is nearby? Can they manipulate or control demons in any way? Can they be sustained by eating demons alone? Is the ability generally passed on genetically or can you become a demon eater? Do they generally work alone or do they have a community?

Witches: Are there different types of witches? Can anyone learn to work with magic or do you have to be born with the ability? Is it generally passed on genetically or is it random? If passed on genetically, is it possible for one member of a family to be born without magical aptitude? Can these people still be involved in the community or are they generally more removed? If random, how do witches find each other/know they aren’t just hallucinating? How do witches use magic? Are there spells, potions, rituals? Are there ways of increasing magical power? Is it like a muscle that gets stronger with use or can power be increased with a staff or another type of catalyst?

Bonus: Are there other supernatural beings in your world that you think are particularly interesting?

Thank you for all of these lovely questions! As always with my worldbuilding stuff, everything I say is subject to change if I change my mind, or (the more likely) I forget the lore of my own story.

Answers under the cut 🖤 If they suck or they don't make sense, it's because I've been in a weird brain fog for a few days now and I can't seem to shake it.

Vampires

Do they sparkle in the sun?

No; they just have more sensitive skin that’s more prone to sun damage, depending on whether they’re fully turned or just half.

Aversion to garlic?

Fully-fledged vampires, yes. It causes extreme nausea and violent vomiting. Ryan can’t even smell it without a reaction.

Crazed by the scent of blood or in control?

It depends on the personality of the vampire, as well as how long they’ve been denied food and blood. A starving vampire will fall victim to their cravings more easily than one who’s fed recently.

Are they cold to the touch?

This one, I go back and forth on, and I’m sure I’ve been inconsistent with it in my fics at this stage.

I’d like to say with full certainty that half-vamps have just a slightly lower body temperature than humans, while fully-blooded vampires are much colder, and that their body temperature would actually be affected by whether or not they’ve consumed blood recently… but like I said, I’m sure this could be disproven by my own writing.

Can they reproduce?

I actually haven’t thought about it too much, but I’m going to say no because that makes the most sense to me. Half-vampires probably could, especially if they’re reproducing with a human, but vampire laws wouldn’t allow it, because there is so little known about it and the offspring’s wellbeing wouldn’t be guaranteed. Vampires have a lot of laws about mixing species.

Can vampires feed without turning the human?

Yes, they can! Turning is a deliberate process that requires a special venom, whose production can only be stimulated by strong, sincere intent.

Can a transformation be reversed?

Not that anyone is aware of.

At what stage can a vampire turn others?

It depends on the vampire or half-vampire’s strength. Some half-vamps can produce the required venom, but are forbidden from doing so even if they can manage it. Otherwise, it’s mostly the older, stronger, fully-turned vampires called Elders who have the ability to change others, and are permitted to (if the right paperwork is submitted to the council etc.).

Do all vampires have the same abilities? Are the abilities inherited or unique?

All vamps and half-vamps all have enhanced senses and reflexes, as well as increased body strength. The level of these depends on their age, their training, and their heritage (Elliott’s strength and stamina are due to the fact that he was turned and nurtured by Ryan, a particularly powerful Elder vampire; Felix’s abilities are weaker because he was turned by a half-vampire).

Some, but not all, fully-fledged vamps have extra supernatural abilities (Watson: can turn into a giant bat; Elliott: can turn into a swarm of bats; Ryan: power of persuasion) that manifest according to their own strengths and characteristics.

What is the vampire social structure like?

The Elders are essentially the ones in charge of maintaining order amongst those in their bloodline, and also make up the council of vampires who make big decisions that could affect the entire community. Full-bloods who aren’t Elders also have occasional responsibilities, which include community service and law keeping.

The council of vampires also precedes over the other supernatural creatures, since they have the greatest population (and they were strongest in the past and nobody really wanted to challenge them) and the closest lives with humans.

Werewolves/Shapeshifters

Can they eat chocolate?

Yes! But they have a strong aversion to silver jewellery, and will break out in a rash and eventually develop burns from it.

Do they only transform during the full moon or can they do so at will?

At will.

Is there a physical/mental toll either pre-, during, or post transformation?

Physical, yes. It’s an exhausting and occasionally painful process.

Mental, sometimes. Mitsuko, in particular, struggles with controlling herself when she transforms, and has the most trouble processing things after she’s switched back to human form.

Are they stronger/faster/do they have heightened senses while not transformed?

Nope!

What makes someone a shapeshifter? Is it inherited genetically or do you have to be turned by another shapeshifter?

It’s a genetic condition that activates at a certain age. Kazuhito was a late bloomer, and only developed his ability when he did because he prayed repeatedly to the fox god, who changed his target animal from a wolf to a fox. He often wonders if other animal deities could grant the gift to regular humans who weren’t born with the shapeshifting ability, but he’s never voiced his theory to anybody who could possibly look into it.

Do they have a pack or community or are they generally solitary?

In the past, they would have stuck in packs, but in modern days, there’s no exact rule for it. Some stick with their biological family members for a lot of their life, while others go out on their own. Kazu and Mitsuko have traumatic childhood experiences that have pushed them away from the family unit, but they’re doing their best to still be there for each other.

Demons

Can they possess someone at will or do they have to be invited?

If they’re strong enough, they can possess and control anybody they please.

Do demons have a physical form or are they more of a shadowy entity?

Both! Demons have physical and ethereal aspects; the physical aspect is something that was possessed and/or absorbed from our world, while the demon’s soul itself is from another realm.

Could they leave their host if they wanted to or do they form a dependence?

They could leave their host/object if they needed to, but they would be a lot weaker and more vulnerable. Most demons wouldn’t choose to do so willingly, once they learned the security of having a host.

Is the bond generally symbiotic?

Generally speaking, no! Charlie and Charlie Two are the first known human/demon pair to function the way they do, so in-world, there’s very little known about this kind of symbiosis, or “affiliation” as they come to call it in canon.

How does the bond affect the host and is this different depending on the type of demon?

Regardless of its type, a demon would generally have destructive intentions on a human host. This would include mental strain, confusion, painful mind sharing, lost chunks of time where the demon took control, and any number of bodily ailments, too.

Does the host experience physical changes when possessed?

Most victims of possession wouldn’t exhibit any physical changes that other people could see or notice. In Charlie and CT’s case, Charlie only experiences physical changes because of how deeply bonded they are.

Can the host generally access and use the demon’s abilities at will?

Unless we’re talking about a case like Charlie and CT, it would take an extremely tough human to tap into a demon’s powers like that. Most likely, a demon wouldn’t continue to try to possess a person with that much willpower, and would just leave them.

Where do the demons come from?

They come from The Other Side, a demon realm adjacent to our world. I hope to keep expanding upon it as a concept, but for now, it’s all very vague, I apologise.

Is there a community or are they solitary beings?

Demons are chaotic creatures who don’t seek order or community or security. They mostly just want to feed on whatever it is they crave and exert their influence over. Charlie Two is eloquent and craves connection because of how long they’ve spent attached to Charlie’s consciousness.

Demon Eaters

Are they more physically capable than humans?

In terms of speed, yes. Dahlia could move impossibly fast, practically melting into a shadow while she hunted. Shayne inherited a weaker form of this ability, since he’s half-human. Unfortunately, there are no natural benefits in terms of physical strength.

Can they sense demons or do they have to stumble upon them/hunt them down?

A bit of both! Shayne sometimes gets a weird feeling, like he’s being watched, if there’s a demon nearby, but it’s sometimes hard for him to distinguish this from general anxiety (he sits in class with Charlie for almost a month before realising he’s possessed).

How do they hunt demons?

If they can lock onto that sense that there’s a demon nearby, it’s not too hard for them to tap into that feeling and just follow it until they find the source. Demon eaters can catch and wrestle demons into an ideal position before devouring them, but it’s easier to use magically-enhanced devices, like Madelyn’s jars.

Are there clear signs to indicate a demon has been in the area or is nearby?

No. It’d be the same as trying to figure out if a human had just walked through the area; unless there’s a distinct disturbance of some kind, it’d be extremely hard to tell.

Can they manipulate or control demons in any way?

Demon eaters can command demons in their custody to do anything they want, so long as they don’t escape. This is done by employing their demonic speech, which demon hunters have an inherent knowledge of. As a weak hybrid version of a demon eater, Shayne can only command them to answer questions.

Can they be sustained by eating demons alone?

True demon eaters survive exclusively by eating demons! I can’t remember if I ever wrote/posted about it, but Dahlia didn’t and couldn’t eat human food. She didn’t even have a sense of taste. Shayne only needs to eat food because he’s half-human.

Is the ability passed on or can you become a demon eater?

It’s passed on.

Do they generally work alone or do they have a community?

Demon eaters are rare and tend to keep to themselves, to the point where Dahlia was the only one that anybody in the vampire sphere was aware of.

Witches

Are there different types of witches?

The main distinction that exists is that some witches have inherent magical abilities (type 1), and others are born with the capacity for magic but have to study and practice to unlock it (type 2). Nancy and Blake are type 1s; Lilith, Astrophel, and Rex are type 2s.

They can also be categorised according to their aptitudes. For example, Lilith and Nancy are both healing witches, Blake can transform thoughts into reality, Astrophel is clairvoyant, and Rex can manipulate the veil between worlds.

Can anyone learn to work with magic or do you have to be born with the ability?

You have to be born with the capacity for magic to flow through you.

Is it generally passed on genetically or is it random?

It can be either! It’s most common for witches to inherit magic, but it’s not unknown for babies to be randomly born with it. Witches that come from strong magical backgrounds are sometimes called legacies. Blake, Rex, and Lilith are legacies; Nancy and Astrophel are both born of humans.

If passed on genetically, is it possible for one member of a family to be born without magical aptitude? Can these people still be involved in the community or are they generally more removed?

Yes, it is possible. It’s also possible for someone born with magical capabilities to lose them, or let their strength dwindle to the point where it would be almost impossible to reinvigorate them. The latter is the case with Lilith’s sister, Nadya. In her case, she is fairly far removed from the witching world, but isn’t exactly estranged from Lilith or their family.

If random, how to witches find each other/know they aren’t just hallucinating?

Astrophel spent years trying to decipher the messages xe kept getting from the stars about Nancy, but eventually xe was able to track her down. Witches who don’t have clairvoyance, or another method of communicating with or finding the witch community would struggle a lot more.

However, the supernatural community, including the council of vampires, does keep an ear out for odd occurrences like that, just in case there’s a witch (or other) out there who doesn’t know how to contact anyone.

How do witches use magic? Are there spells, potions, rituals?

Yes, all of the above. Magic can be used on the spot, channelled directly from the user onto their environment (spells), or poured into physical objects (potions, enchanted items, etc.). Rituals would probably be the rarest form, used only in cases where a lot of time and magical energy is required.

Are there ways of increasing magical power?

Exposure to magical or otherworldly energies can increase a witch’s capacity for magic.

Is it like a muscle that gets stronger with use or can power be increased with a staff or another type of catalyst?

If a witch had a magical object that amplified their powers, it would only expand the brute force of their power. The way they get stronger is by learning the pathways that work the best, take the least toll on their body, and achieve the most accurate results. So I guess it’s a mixture of both.

Bonus

Are there any other supernatural beings in your world that you think are particularly interesting?

They’re very underdeveloped because when I started to delve into this, I found it a little too morbid to think about, but zombies exist in Swallow the World as well. Not the mindless, groaning, constantly ravenous kind a la The Walking Dead, but undead creatures kind of similar to vampires but who need flesh instead of blood, and without the strength, the supernatural powers, the immortality, etc. that vampires have.

[tharizdun-03]

frustrations with the inaction on the climate crisis

I don't want to like doompost or anything, but I've just been kinda bummed out by everything happening in the world lately. The climate crisis is as bad as it's ever been which our corrupt economic and governance system supports and the people in power don't anything about, the evergrowing rise of fascism and bigotry, the deep resentment, fear, and dangerous views young men are adopting, fucking Elon Musk, along with, you know, what feels like basically every man with any sort of power misusing his position to sexually benefit off of minors.

And, yeah, obviously, the easy remedy to this is that I should just spend less time on the internet. I know the people in my actual life are good people. And even if they weren't, I should see it as a sign, an inspiration, to be the best person I can be.

I just feel powerless sometimes, when it's stuff like the climate crisis, and I do everything possible to help on an individual level, but it doesn't really matter. But, on the bright side, you know, there are still more activists than ever?

I mean, we just had the painting protests. Granted, wouldn't be my pick as it doesn't really lend to great optics for the cause, but you know, at least they're doing something at least.

Listen. A lot of people nowadays live in capitalism without a second thought. I have some friends that are conscious of it and oppose it altogether. Some are irl, most are online on other platforms (fediverse).

It can just be really frustrating sometimes. It frustrates me that people place the importance of capitalism and profits over the rights and material conditions present for the people in our communities. It frustrates me to think that people want to hold up rigid social orders rather than let everyone express and identify as they wish and respect them as long as it does not harm others.

But, talking about this kind of stuff with normies, they go;

"But how does (insert moral action here) help us to grow the economy?" 

"If we don't have police, then won't everyone just (insert bad action here) each other with no consequence?" 

 "If we help everyone, won't society just collapse because no one will have the drive to work?"

Most of the time, I mean, I'm an optimistic and joyful person at heart, so my depressive episodes are quite infrequent and don't last for long, but when they do happen, I'm like out completely for that day or two.

It's just, you do what you can and it changes nothing and you just get tired sometimes. At some point, I will likely be more angry than tired and I will try again and it won't matter again and I will be tired again and then angry again and such and so on forever and ever.

I get the desire to just be ignorant. I see people who aren't tormented about it, and I miss it. But, I'm right. And knowing about this stuff is important, it is the first step toward change.

Even if the effects of global warming were halted IMMEDIATELY, they would still be felt for hundreds of years. Of course, the solutions are actually out there! We could easily reduce waste by 70% just by getting rid of the "planned obsolesce" design, and instead designing things to be repaired and recycled, and implementing more vertical infrastructure. We could regulate businesses, reduce air travel, cut back on meat, introduce more sustainable farming practices, switch to efficient public transit in the US, etc.

Can we make changes? Yes. Will we make changes? No.

The problem is that there aren't any solutions that involve satiating our horribly lopsided capitalistic practices with the endless consumption and waste required to generate the massive wealth inequality we are used to. We are asking a bunch of money-hungry psychopaths to put aside their hunger, think of the greater good and actually help, without profit motive. Money isn't even real, man.

And even setting aside the corrupt elite, the people would riot too. Capitalism has convinced billions that their consumer choices are inherent rights. People will not stop driving or eating meat until the bitter end.

The urgency is building, but going nowhere.

And here I do everything that I can in my current situation. I won't have any kids (altho mostly cause I don't really like interacting with kids for an extended period of time lol), and if I somehow do, I will adopt. I and family fly as little as possible, and we try to take local trips instead (but living with my family, I am limited in my vehicle use). I walk to my college and my likely future place of employment I can commute via train to. I avoid consumer crap. I eat plant-based and grow some of my own vegetables. I sometimes do guerilla gardening. I try to live as simply and solarpunk-like as possible for me at this moment in time. And I don't mean to gloat or anything, but my point is that it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter how many material sacrifices I make, cause someone else will just fill that. My footprint isn't what's killing the world, and neither is it yours. It is not our fault. It is capitalism. And yet we are the ones who have to deal with the mess.

Even if I wanted to live completely off the grid (eventually I'd love to), I can't actually do that without a whole lot of money. Whatever we do, we're forced to play this game.

What are you gonna do, huh? Vote? If you live in the US, you're stuck between choosing a bunch of rich consumers in suits who are ideologically committed to exploiting the world for profit.

In Sweden, well, it's not nearly as corrupt here, but because my pacifist country decided to settle for social democracy (IT IS NOT ENOUGH!), we're now seeing it unwind as the far right won the election. To the point that they've removed the climate department (and haven't followed through on their promises regarding the electricity crisis).

Humanity can't fix this with electoralism. What's your plan for a planet of 8 billion people across 195 different countries, with 195 different governments? There's nothing we can do.

Listen, I'm a revolutionist, but any future revolution depends on individual revolts accumulating bottom-up. There's no vanguard (not the route to go anyway), no aliens; no corporation or state is going to do it. The responsibility for it falls on each individual.

Maybe my community could theoretically manage to build enough dual power structures for it to work a short time in my city, but the time it'll have to take before that ever succeeds, things will be far too late.

And even then, the entire country would be a pipe dream, so it wouldn't be sustainable anyway. And even if we managed the entire country, because the rest of the world still consists of capitalistic, imperialist powerhouses, they'd never allow us to live in peace anyway.

These last few months have probably been the most exhausting ones for me. I've been out and about more than ever before (and whenever I had free time, just consumed media). And yeah, you get tired from doing so much but knowing it won't change our course. BUT! Doomerism doesn't come from care, it comes from burnout. It comes from feeling impotent. It comes from a lack of agency. It comes from trauma. And it comes from a black-and-white notion of success and failure.

Sure, you can focus on how you could help the homeless a hell lot more if the state wasn't so fucking insistent on trampling down any community efforts to push their ways that don't work and isn't wanted, or you can focus on that even if things aren't perfect, things are still better because you're helping out. It is still the best feeling in the world knowing that you're making a tangible difference for people, even if it's small and maybe even temporary. If you tie your happiness to an imagined future you will probably not have much of a life worth living. Learn to live in this world but not in a way where you're giving into it!

We can't save the world. But, then time to do what we can. This isn't abstract doom. These are real, specific people who will be harmed, that you can directly know, and directly be there for. You have to remember to not think about this like you are trying to architect society. Remember what you actually care about.

I don't want people to suffer. That's why I'm upset about our inaction on climate change. The propagation of my species and society is not really that important to me so I can live with some big-picture doom. But, you know, does the inability to stop all death make people think medical training is pointless? No.

One of my new year's resolutions was to focus more on my solarpunk. Humanity won't die out completely. I'll get out of here before the worst comes, but I can help people as much as possible nevertheless.

If (when) civilization collapses, and I'm still alive, well, then I better be there with community networks already set up to help people out in rebuilding society. So, that's what I have to remember for this year. When I need to tend to myself, maybe focus more on my gardening. But, any volunteering should be for improving people's lives right now and setting up positive change after the inevitable collapse.

I want my community to be built on a radical respect for people and planet. I want it to be a place for open source production, where the common good is prioritized over mindless consumption. I want it to be cooperative as well as communitarian, not only aiming to create an entirely self-sufficient system of agriculture and manufacturing but also a diverse and thriving culture where everyone can live their authentic self. I want to develop our own renewable energy systems and strive to eliminate our impact on the ecosphere, while protecting biodiversity and creating a natural, symbiotic environment to live in. We would always put people and planet first.

So, I should fight for that. If society doesn't collapse, then we better have networks ready to support people in pushing for positive social change that benefits everyone instead of the select few. And if society does collapse, we better have networks ready to help people out in rebuilding.

It's all about doing what you can while you're here. And, hopefully, if you die before the collapse, you'll have made a legacy for other anarchists to follow as you spread your own form of anarchism.

You can help. No matter how small, it matters to someone.