#they're my emotional support lesbians

[azure-firecracker]

I have so much love for every archival staff member and want to give them all a hug a cup of tea and a lifetime of therapy.

Except Elias he can go die.

[officrnolen]

i've been sitting on this for like. a month but do people remember maddie's first scene and people taking her "it's nice to know there are still good ones left" line the completely wrong way?? everyone thought it was another diss on people who live in the undercity but she was specifically talking about enforcers, how marcus betrayed them and now that vi is assumedly becoming an enforcer she goes "it's nice to know there are still good ones left." THATS what she was referring to.

[hecticelectron]

Hi, this is a big post about my new TTRPG, Defy the Gods, which I’m Kickstarting soon. It’s a queer sword & sorcery adventure-romance set in fantasy ancient Mesopotamia. I was inspired by Conan, Clash of the Titans (1981!) and Princess Mononoke. (I've also got a BlueSky megathread going about it.)

Sign up for the Kickstarter here!

Art by Thalie Shelen! @thalieshelen

(Btw hi I'm Chrys, a queer, trans game designer in Columbus, Ohio. This will be my second published game. The first was a furry pack of nonsense called Raccoon Sky Pirates.)

Defy the Gods is sword & sorcery as a story game. My favorite PbtA games emulate specific stories and lead you to resonant emotional moments like you find in those stories. Here, I used PbtA to emulate sword & sorcery, with an emphasis on the romantic moments—but also plenty of metal 🤘. You use the flirtation mechanics (taken from Thirsty Sword Lesbians) to tempt, support, or thwart others. But then, you can roll too high (taken from Apocalypse Keys), where you get more than you bargained for. Like Conan running out of the Tower of the Elephant while it crumbles around him.

Also like Conan, you have a glorious destiny, but in this case it ain’t good. Rising to your most powerful self makes you monstrous, heralding your character’s end as a hero and their beginning as an NPC antagonist.

It’s a queer game. You can fall in love with anyone, or make them fall in love with you. But because the game is also about power, the gods and tyrants wait to stomp on you if your enticement falls flat. Like if you flirt with someone in the wrong neighborhood. Every character has their own arc, and one of the things I had the most fun with was making those feel like queer problems as well as ancient-world sword & sorcery problems.

Play a fierce Sword, chaos-loving Sorcerer, fugitive Revenant, mischievous Sailor, immortal-sworn Vessel, or wild-raised Wolfling. (All character portraits by Thalie Shelen @thalieshelen)

The Sword is big-hearted and violent. You have a move that lets you kill any human-sized mortal NPC within arm’s reach, without rolling, if you’re not already in combat. This always causes more problems than it solves.

While most players roll just 2d6 & add their stat, the Sorcerer casts spells by rolling a lot of dice & looking for patterns in them. If you can’t find any patterns, your sorcery runs amok. This chaos is kind of lovely. For instance, you're always changing your body—sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. But always gorgeous.

The Revenant is like Inanna, or if Eurydice made it out. They escaped the land of the dead. They aren’t who they were in their past life, nor who they were as a shade. They're still figuring out who they are now. Demons pursue them to claw them back to the Underworld.

The Sailor can call on a cast of past friends and lovers for help. They always have a plan, and an eye for the exit. One of their moves lets you fill in the map of the otherwise unknown world.

The Vessel is in love with a minor god. They channel their patron’s power by wounding themself, but their patron can also soothe their pain.

The Wolfling was raised by animals in the Wilds and is curious about the humans, but they belong in neither world. They're definitely the part most directly inspired by Princess Mononoke.

The World Forces are the antagonist. You build them at the table, in quick rounds of pick lists. They are:

The Pantheon: gods, goddesses, and demons. They make the rules, but maybe you can break them.

The City: tyrants, the wealthy, and others with the gods' blessing. They push you to the margins, but you can fight to be seen.

The Wilds: gigantic creatures and their trackless wilderness home. It's place of danger and new rules, but you'll probably break them.

The Shadow of Atlantis: long-gone elders. They dared to scorn the gods, and the Pantheon destroyed them for it, but through you they may live again.

Death: a hungry, totalitarian force. Its underground domain is the end for all mortals and the mockery of hope. But maybe you can return.

Art by Shan Bennion! @anonbeadraws

This was an intensely personal project, but it was too big for me to do by myself. Here are all the people who helped make it a reality:

Avery Alder: Design advisor

Basheer Ghouse: @basheerghouse Cultural consultant

Cat Tobin: Horizons Mentor https://www.pelgranepress.com

Cris Viana: Graphic designer & layout artist

Ezra Rose: Interior art

Kanesha Bryant: Interior art

Katrin Dirim: Interior art

Jaqueline Florencio: Cover art

Lyla Fujiwara: Developmental editor https://www.jarofeyes.com

Mary Verhoeven: Interior art

Omar Ramadan-Santiago: Cultural consultant

Rae Nedjadi: Developmental editor https://temporalhiccup.itch.io

Rue Dickey: @ilananight Copy editor

Sean D’souza: World-builder & writer https://linktr.ee/seandsouzax

Shan Bennion: Interior art

Thalie Shelen: Interior art

(art by Shan again! @anonbeadraws)

Thanks for reading! See the Kickstarter here!

[asidian]

Alright. It is time. Buckle up.

Why you should be watching Dead Boy Detectives: the targeted-specifically-at my-readers edition.

Meet the leads, our two ghost boys:

Edwin Payne: Fussy, repressed intellectual type from the Edwardian era. Exceedingly gay for his partner and best friend. Tortured in hell for seventy years on a technicality because he was ritually sacrificed as a prank gone wrong. Endearingly awful at people and dealing with emotions or his own wants.

Charles Rowland: Impulsive, people-pleasing wildcard from the 80s. Heart eyes 24/7 at his best friend but has zero self-awareness. Badly abused by his asshole of a father. Beaten to death because he saved a kid from bullies. Endearingly awful at sorting his own emotions or talking about his problems.

Some highlights:

/slaps hood you can fit so much trauma in these two

Both leads get sobbing breakdowns that happen on screen. The actors are incredible at crying

Both leads get much-needed hugs

The absolute devotion between the two of them. The shared history that lives in their dialogue and how they work together like people who have been each other's Most Important Person for literal decades

I mean, I'm talking in-canon Orpheus and Eurydice reference level of devotion here

The protective way Charles puts himself physically between Edwin and damn near every threat in the show

They're just fun together. Their interactions and banter and how they work as a team is a delight

Their shared plot arc literally involves them learning to talk to each other and communicate more so that they can be there for one another about their respective issues

The symbolism. God. They are metaphorically and literally one another's light in the darkness

But what about stuff that isn't the main duo? Just wait, there's more:

This show is unabashedly, unapologetically queer. It's there in the text and the subtext. The whole show lives and breathes it

So many good, complex, well-written female characters. The Bechdel test gets blown straight out of the water in episode one and they never look back. Headstrong amnesiac psychic learning to be a better person! Quirky meta commentary matchmaker! Cynical lesbian butcher! Delightfully sadistic witch! They are all amazing.

[audience voice] But I'm here for the hurt/comfort. How can I whump ghosts? Worry not, my friends. Canon has you covered. Not only are there ways, there are ways that happen on-screen. The hurt/comfort and rescue are also on-screen. Yes, it is amazing

Absolute chaos, really cool supernatural cases and creatures, a surprising amount of humor, charming writing, and a cast that absolutely nails it on the acting and chemistry

There is an extremely suggestive trickster type who is also the king of cats. He's a cat in human form. He hits on Edwin nonstop. Charles gets blisteringly jealous

All of the leads have well-thought-through, fully developed, emotional character arcs. They're all messy and flawed and sometimes lash out in their pain, but at turns can be incredibly supportive and kind and loyal

A character who is a crow who is also a boy, who is tortured by his witch/creator and also is crushing hard on one of the leads

There are so many incredible details in the setting, costume choices, prop decisions, etc. that you only catch after you know what it's laying the groundwork for. The level of care that went into this show is phenomenal

It's only eight episodes. The time investment barrier to entry could not possibly be lower

Anyway, tl;dr, if any of this sounds appealing to you, you should give this show a watch.

Dead Boy Detectives is well worth your time. It's easily my favorite show in years.

[drdemonprince]

ok fine cis men aren't the bad gender it's all men and we're all exactly like that anon who admitted to having abused women even if we don't know it. are you fucking happy now? is this the solidarity you want us to feel with cis men, that we're all just as mich rapists and murderers of women as they are? you have some fucking nerve to be throwing vague jabs while calling an admitted abuser "brave"

Normally I don't platform asks like these, but I'm moved by the genuineness of your emotional reaction here. I think you're hurting, and you've been hurt, and that the belief that abuse and violence are located within one gendered group (to which you don't belong) has felt like a way of organizing your world that has helped you make sense of things, and given you guidelines for how to act and whom to trust that have helped keep you safe. I think a lot of assault survivors feel that way when they're not cis men and their attackers were cis men.

As someone who has experienced a ton of sexual predation at the hands of cis women, cis men, and even other trans people, I don't feel the same way. There is no "bad gender" I can chalk up my abuse to. I find there are no easy means of categorizing entire people as abuser or as victim either -- I have known so, so many people who have occupied both roles depending upon the power they wielded and the social context of the moment. Hell, one cis lesbian that I knew who was infamous in her community for raping trans men would always tell her victims that her acts were those of "trauma recovery," of her "reclaiming" her power after men had stolen it away.

Even she, I don't think, is irredeemable or ontologically evil.

I'm an abolitionist. That's a core value through which a lot of my political action and beliefs flow. If you're not on board with the project of abolitionism, you'll find much to object to here, and most of your objections are things I will refuse to entertain, because I do not believe human beings are disposable no matter what they do, and I don't believe that anyone should have the authority to deem another human being as disposable.

An abolitionist politics is incompatible with the idea that some people or some groups are inherently bad. It's incompatible with the belief that abuse and violence comes from evil. It's a worldview that holds that people do harm because of social structures and networks of power that must be destroyed -- systems like the patriarchy, cissexism, anti-Blackness, ableism, capitalism, and more. And I think one of the ways that we conquer such oppressive systems is by raising the consciousness of all the people trapped under it -- so that we can topple it together. I want trans men and cis men alike to realize they have some skin in the game.

You don't have to associate with the men you don't want to associate with. If, because of repeated abuses at the hands of men, you can't ever trust them, well, those are your feelings, that's your life, that is your business. But when your personal feelings of safety are used as a justification for developing and promoting a worldview with transphobic, transmisogynistic implications, I'm gonna talk shit about that on my stupid little blog. And I'm gonna continue conducting my life in the way I feel I should.

And for me, that means forging common ground between trans men and cis men, and pushing both groups to take women's concerns seriously (especially trans women's concerns) and to stop centering themselves in feminist dialogue. There's a place for both trans men and cis men in the gender revolution, but we gotta do a lot of work on ourselves to stop getting in the way. It's work I'm emotionally equipped to do and find rewarding, and it's fine if you don't. There are lots of other people who need support that you can focus your energies on -- other survivors of abuse and assault that you perhaps find it easier to relate to. That's important work too, and I wish you well in doing it. Just make sure you're not excluding trans women in that work or I'll continue to be annoying about it on my stupid little blog.

[abyssiniapleasant]

these are my emotional support tortured lesbians!

they're also luthen rael's emotional support lesbians

[monsteradarling]

it's so hard being a rad fem and bisexual. i hate that i'm attracted to men. i hate myself for having crushes on men even though i don't date them. i feel so conflicted between my emotions and my brain like i don't know what to do

What you're talking about is internalised biphobia and the misunderstanding of sexuality in feminist spaces, pure and simple.

Sexuality is a completely ordinary and neutral thing. Feminism has absolutely nothing at all to do with sexuality. Where the wires get crossed in regards to feminism is the fact that to actually liberate women, we need to fight and end both biphobia and lesbophobia, so both bisexual women and lesbian women can be free, too.

There is so much biphobia ingrained into society. The fact that you hate yourself for having a crush on a man is one proof of that. You can't control who you find attractive or catch feelings for. You're not a machine. The biphobic propaganda that says we can "choose" who to love is a complete lie.

One of the biggest flaws of radical feminism is that women tend to think that criticising opposite sex relationships, criticising heteronormativity and criticising heterosexism is the same as criticising opposite sex attraction. That's what creates the most inane debates that basically boil down to a rehashing of the old politicial lesbian rubbish from decades back, where some women believe that "I'm a lesbian/only date other women/a celibate straight woman" automatically makes a woman a better feminist somehow.

(Spoiler alert: it doesn't. Bigger spoiler alert: believing that makes you a worse feminist, because it stops you critiquing yourself and your own behaviour towards other women, and towards other men in your life.)

The fact is that as a feminist, it is painfully obvious that it would be better for women to not partner with them. We know this. We're also human beings, and being a feminist is not an identity label, where you have to be able to check off a bunch of different boxes before you make it your entire personality. We're human beings and we're imperfect.

If you fall in love with a man and you weigh up your options and decide to date him and he treats you well, then no, you can't say that dating that man or even marrying him is a feminist act, because it isn't. The critique of opposite sex relationships is about power imbalance, how badly men tend to treat women, domestic violence, rape etc. A good feminist isn't going to attack you over it, she's going to worry about you and hope that you've found the one in a million who's actually good, because no feminist ever wants a woman to be harmed - and if he isn't good, will be there with open arms to support you getting away from him, all without judgement. There is no "I told you so" or "well what did you expect," because we're human and sometimes the heart is louder than the head.

At the same time, I do want to point out that if you fall in love with a woman and date her, then calling that a feminist act ends up objectifying your partner, and I personally think it's both disrespectful and wrong. Love is love, at the end of the day, and while it would be safer for you to partner with a woman, you having sex with a woman isn't going to end patriarchy, because sexuality in general can't be changed.

Genuinely, if you start hating a part of yourself because of the feminists that you're surrounded by, you need to ditch them. You need to realise that they're not preaching liberation if it makes you hate a part of yourself that is neutral and natural.

I would caution you away from dating a man, but there is absolutely no issue in you having a crush or being attracted to them, and anyone who says otherwise is completely ignorant. If you do end up dating a man, though, the whole point is to keep him and your relationship away from feminist spaces, and don't rush in to defend him, that's all.

Considering the state of the world, the most feminist thing to do is to connect with other women first and foremost.

I've been where you are, hating being bisexual, hating my same sex attraction, hating my opposite sex attraction, and it isn't worth it. There is no separating or splitting your attraction. You're just bisexual. You don't have to talk about percentages or where you lean or whatever else. You're just bisexual, and that is perfect the way that it is.

Trust me: accepting your bisexuality fully is a feminist act, because if you can work through your internalised biphobia, and then support other bisexual women struggling in a similar way, then that is the small ripple of a pond towards giving more bisexual women confidence to all just be ourselves, and stop worrying about what others think. We're just flawed people like everyone else, and you deserve to be able to love yourself without any of that negativity gnawing away inside of you. You're not alone, I promise you. x

[staybabblingbaby]

Fan Experience with SKZ a2d3 (+ 1,652 words Addition)

[Caution: These are not full fics, or even full parts of fics for some, these are part of my writing progress archive!]

Concept: You hadn't expected to win the opportunity to have a dinner with Stray Kids for you and a friend from a gimmicky raffle meant to sell more albums. But you have. And now you have to meet you idols and try not to completely fall apart in the process. (or: I miss those weird old sweepstakes to hang out with random celebrities and go on shopping sprees with someone else's money from early 2000s infomercial television. So I made SKZ do one. kinda.)

Word Count: 3,051

Notes: Listen. I know she's not what everyone was hoping for, but she's what I've got, ok? I read this fic by @staylovesmiley and I got so delulu about it that I started working on this one again. It's literally not my fault. Also, I literally wrote this and posted it with no, like, revisions. Cos it's still a rough draft. Feel free to tell me if you spot mistakes tho.

Warnings: Reader has an anxiety/panic attack (twice, kind of? One is really just being dramatic about nerves the second was a genuine panic)

Masterlist

"I can't do this." you whine pathetically, “I’m literally going to throw up.”

Ha-Yun, your best friend and the sacrifice you'd dragged along to be your emotional support to this fan opportunity, wraps a comforting arm around your shoulder.

"You're doing it." she says firmly, “and you’re not allowed to throw up. These are my nice shoes.”

Maybe the arm wasn't a comfort after all, maybe you were her captive now. Turnabout is fair play, you suppose.

"We're already here, and the guard has already left to get someone. It's too late to back out now." She add, infuriatingly reasonable. She’s made several good points, but the day you admit that is the day you marry her. Unfortunately for lesbians everywhere, Ha-Yun happened to be very straight.

"You don't know that!" You insist, "We could run right back out the doors- just poof! Gone." You speak like some sort of madness had taken over you, waving your hands around to illustrate your (admittedly, a bit insane) point. Quite honestly, it probably had.

Ha-Yun turns to face you properly now. She knows you well enough to know that you were genuinely freaking out, no matter how silly you were about it. She gives you a sympathetic smile, and tugs you closer. Presumably to keep you from running off (and maybe to actually comfort you. Maybe).

"It'll be fine. You adore those boys. Just be chill and respectful and it'll all go well." Once again, Ha-Yun appeals to your greater reason. Too bad you weren't feeling very reasonable at the moment.

You turn yourself to hide your face in her neck and make a sound not dissimilar to a boiling kettle.

"What if they hate me?" You desperately question, "What if they think I'm weird, or ugly, or annoying, or- or- or!" You trail off breathlessly, on the verge of hyperventilating, and feel Ha-Yun gently pat your head.

She makes soft seal noises to mock you and then says, "Well if they do its not like you'll ever know."

Another keening whine leaves you as you slide down to crouch on the floor, arms sliding down with you to wrap around Ha-Yun's knees. She stumbles a bit, but regains her balance by using your head as a cane. She lets you stay there, blessed saint that she is, and continues to speak, wretched devil that she is.

"I mean, really, they're not gonna tell you to your face, and you're not gonna see them again after today." She points out.

You'd like to argue, but it's not like she's wrong.

You'd ended up couched on the floor of the JYPE building, clutching your best friend's pant leg, on a random Tuesday, about to meet Stray Kids AND eat dinner with them, by pure dumb luck. Actual, literal, luck. Like, won-a-raffle sort of luck. You may as well have won the lottery for everything this opportunity means to you.

Once-in-a-lifetime was an understatement.

"Just have fun with it," Ha-Yun finishes her pep-talk, heedless of your internal (and external) freak-out.

"I think I'll die, actually." You mutter petulantly into her thigh.

She snorts at you, ruffling your hair aggressively and disregarding your half-hearted attempts to swipe at her for it.

"C'mon, what happened to the person who was bouncing off the walls excited about this?" She cajoles, shaking you around but not dislodging you.

When she says bouncing off the walls, she means it. When you’d received the email and confirmed your attendance, you’re pretty sure you invented new parkour moves with the case of zoomies you’d gotten in your euphoric excitement. You’d gotten a noise complaint about it.

Still, that joy had abandoned you now.

"They're dead and buried." You deadpan. It wasn’t like you weren't excited, really! You’d been looking forward to this for weeks now. For all your dramatics, Bangchan himself probably couldn’t peel you from this floor and make you leave. You’d become a permanent mark on the lobby floor of JYPE before you missed this.

You were just going to perish from sheer anxiety, that was all. Could anyone really blame you? You were about to meet your idols. It was kind of a big deal!

Ha-Yun does nothing but pat your head twice. "Well unbury them," She commands, "the guard is coming back."

Your head snaps up to see not only the beefy security guard who'd checked both of your I.Ds and passes with great suspicion a few minutes ago, but also the Bang Christopher Chan, come to peel you off the floor.

Your brain stalls for a second, seeing him dressed head-to-toe in casual black, barefaced and smiling beautifully at you. And then you realize the position you're in and scramble to stand properly, far too late for either of them to have missed your bout of insanity.

You attempt to slide yourself behind Ha-Yun in your humiliation, but the cruel woman snags your elbow with one hand, and your opposite shoulder with the other, and holds you in place in front of her.

You take back anything nice you've ever said about Ha-Yun, she's an evil witch and she’s out to get you.

Before you can panic too hard, Bangchan and the security guard come to a stop in front of you.

Though Bangchan is all warm eyes and kind smiles, you can't help but feel small in front of him. You shrink back into Ha-Yun, but she doesn't allow you to retreat. You promise to yourself to only cook foods she doesn't like for a whole month when this is over.

"Hi, it’s so good to meet you!" Bangchan greets cheerfully. You do your best to match his smile despite your fear and return his greeting (only after Ha-Yun subtly elbows you to take the lead, refusing you your right to silence), introducing yourself as the fan who’d won the raffle before motioning to Ha-Yun, who was still holding you hostage.

"And this is Ha-Yun, she's my emotional support human today." You're extremely jealous she's as functional as she is as she both bows respectfully and shakes Bangchan's hand, prompting you to do the same.

This was one of the many reasons you'd chosen to bring her over any of your friends who were actually Stray Kids fans. Functional emotional support summed her up nicely.

As greetings wrap up, Ha-Yun turns to you with mischief in her eyes. You glare right back as she begins to dramatically interrogate you.

"Is emotional support all I am to you?" She demands, "I thought we were more than that! I thought we had something special!" She places a hand over her heart as you'd shot her, dipping back way too far in her dramatics because she knows your hand will catch her whether you want it to or not.

Supporting most of her weight with your fist dug into her upper back, you retort, "You thought wrong."

Bangchan's snicker reminds you of your audience and you tuck your hands behind your back with an embarrassed flush. Ha-Yun stumbles at the sudden lack of support, and is treated to a heated glare when all she does is laugh at you. You may as well have been air for all it affects her.

Two months. No yummy home cooked meals for Ha-Yun. You swore it.

Bangchan begins to speak and your attention is immediately back on him instead of your comedy act of a best friend.

"So, the company actually picked out the place for dinner, so we don't get to choose, sorry." And he really does seem apologetic, despite this seeming like a very reasonable thing to you. "It's this barbecue place down the road, we'll be meeting the others there, if that's alright?"

Again he asks like he genuinely values your opinion in this, and the prospect of being in even one (1) of this man's thoughts as an individual causes you a bit of a crisis.

Luckily, this is exactly what you'd bright Ha-Yun along for, and she easily agrees for the two of you while you malfunction, guiding you along with the experience of having born witness to more than one blue-screen brain moment in your life.

She strikes up an easy conversation with Bangchan as he leads the three of you deeper into the building towards a different door, leaving the security guard behind, the man cheerfully explaining that you’d be making your way to the building’s underground parking garage where a car was already waiting for you.

You're a bit jealous of Ha-Yun’s comfort and ability to talk to strangers. Even famous ones. You sort of feel like you're simultaneously walking on air and suffocating on that same air, but she keeps conversation light and steady, the mood easy and comfortable even as you stew in anxious silence.

Still, she keeps her hand on your back to keep you walking and rubs little comforting circles there. So. She's forgiven. Only a little bit. Back down to one month of no yummies.

The journey is short, and you don’t get to see much of the company, but Bangchan catches you looking around curiously as you walk, and generously explains the types of rooms and offices you walk past like some sort of tour guide. In fact, he apologizes for not being able to give you a more thorough tour and you frantically assure him that this was more than you'd ever expected in the first place.

You don't catch the pleased look he has as you crawl out of your shell a bit to ask him more questions, but Ha‐Yun shoots him a grateful look over your head. You don’t see the tiny nod they share, but the two reach an understanding over your oblivious head.

Cute, precious dongsaengs were to be protected.

Surprisingly, and relievingly to your poor, anxious, mind, there’s not much in the way of staff or cameras during the ride to the restaurant.

It’s actually Bangchan himself who climbs into the driver’s seat, and the only cameras you spot are small unmanned ones strapped to the dash and seats.

In the terms and conditions you’d signed when you’d entered the raffle in the first place you’d agreed to being filmed for content. At the time you hadn’t thought anything of it, thinking you couldn’t possibly win in the first place. After all, you were no GOM or fansite, nor rich enough to buy multiple sets of the album that bought you your chance to win.

And yet, here you were. Your one measly entry and a fuckton of luck later.

So yeah, you hadn’t really thought twice to agreeing to being filmed in the event that you won. You still hadn’t thought much of it until JYPE had sent another, more thorough release form, granting them the right to profit off of the content filmed today. Then it had felt more real.

You make your way over to the car, a subtle thing painted black and with tinted windows, and Ha-Yun practically shoves you into the passenger side door when you instinctively reach for the back. You toss her a wounded pout, but she just rolls her eyes at you and climbs in, settling in the middle of the back seat.

You get the hint and sheepishly slide into the passenger seat, giving Bangchan an awkward half bow when your eyes meet. He just offers you a dimpled grin in return.

He must clock you giving the cameras a weary glance as you buckle in, because he taps the one on the dash before starting to pull out.

“They like these things to be natural,” He begins explaining, voice warm and kind, “So don’t worry too much about the cameras. Try to forget about them, if you can.”

You don’t think you can, especially since there’s a little blinking red light on top indicating that they’re already recording, but you’ll try. For Chan.

“I’ll start making a fool of myself the second I forget.” You joke, letting your tone go whiny with complaint.

Ha-Yun pulls lightly at your hair from the back seat, sniggering as she says, “You’d do that regardless.”

You complain loudly and reach back to slap at her, but Bangchan puts a hand on your shoulder and gently turns you back toward the front before you can turn far enough.

“Don’t turn around wile we’re moving,” he commands softly, “It’s dangerous.”

You just nod dumbly, earning yourself another smile, and make eye contact with Ha-Yun in the rearview mirror. She smirks knowingly at you, but you find yourself too flustered to glare properly. You scrunch up your nose at her instead, thanking every available deity that you weren’t the type to blush very visibly.

Ha-Yun, glorious holy angel that she is, changes the subject.

“I thought they were supposed to get our first reactions to meeting y’all on camera?”

“Ah, yeah,” Chan laughs sheepishly, “It was actually a manager that was supposed to pick you up, but I was running behind at the company anyway, so I asked if I could. They’ll probably grab security cam footage or something for our meeting.” He glances at me from the corner of his eyes, amusement playing on his face.

“Besides, it looked like you guys had a bit of a comedy routine going on, so they’ll definitely want to add that in.”

You groan your anguish aloud to the world, sinking low in your seat and covering your face. Ha-Yun howls like the hyena she truly is in the back seat.

“Kill me now, it’d be kinder.” You lament. Chan pats your thigh consolingly.

“No can do.”

The three of you chat lightly for the rest of the drive, ice absolutely pulverized in the wake of your humiliation. Chan briefly warns you that there will be more cameras and actual staff present at the restaurant, and you get the impression that perhaps this is why he’d chosen to be your chauffer. To warm you up, ease you in before you were blindsided by a professional camera crew.

You don’t say anything, but a shared glance with Ha-Yun in the rearview reveals that she feels the same.

God, kindness is SO unfairly attractive.

The drive really is quite short, the distance a 30 minute walk at most. You still manage to absolutely jam out to a song or two when Chan catches you lightly singing along to the radio under your breath. He just quietly turns up the volume, and soon enough you’re treated to live Bangchan karaoke, and find yourself almost too entranced to remember to sing yourself.

But you pull up to the restaurant all too quickly, parking around the back of a quaint and homely looking barbecue place, and suddenly remember how nervous you are.

You are absolutely going to puke all over Ha-Yun’s nice shoes.

You slowly clamber out of the car, any semblance of grace leaving you as you stare at the door to the restaurant like it’s going to eat you. Ha-Yun sidles up beside you, sliding her hand into yours. She doesn’t flinch when you squeeze her hand, merely squeezing back, even though you know your grip is tight enough to leave nail marks in her skin.

Bangchan is saying something to you as he gets out of the car himself, something about how he promises the food is good and that he and the kids come here fairly often, but you barely hear a word over the blood rushing in your ears.

“I’m gonna be sick.” You murmur to Ha-Yun, much more serious than you were at the company building, what with the nervous battering at your stomach like a siege.

Ha-Yun just gently uncurls your hand from around your stomach, leaving an echo of ache where you hadn’t realized your fingers had been digging into your own flash with a white-knuckled grip. Her hand slides down so she’s holding both of yours, and turns you to face her.

Ha-Yun rests her forehead on yours and takes an exaggerated breath in. You copy her on instinct, the motions familiar, and are gifted with a headrush and a sudden ringing in your ears as you take in air you hadn’t realized you’d been missing.

She guides you through a few more breaths, and you realize Bangchan had gone silent somewhere along the way, if he had even stuck around to bear witness. You can only spare him a half-second of thought though, through the effort of keeping yourself together.

Ha-Yun is very good at holding your pieces in place while you stitch up your seams.

“You’ve got this,” she reassures in a soft voice, only barely heard above the static in your head, “Everything will be fine. It’s just dinner. They’re just guys. I’ll be there the whole time. You’re not alone. I’ve got you. Everything will be fine.”

It’s not the words themselves that calm you, really. It never is. You can barely hear them, anyway, even as your heartrate starts returning to baseline.

Ha-Yun just has this way of sounding so sure. So soft and calm and in control. She could tell you the sky is green right now and you’d just nod along. It’s exactly what you need to trick your nervous system out of fight-or-flight, and you slowly settle back into your skin.

“It’s okay,” you assure, not certain if you’re speaking to her or yourself, “I’m okay. I’ve got this.”

“Yeah you do!” She affirms in a hushed cheer. You squeeze her hands again, mindful of the pressure this time. She squeezes back, and gently bonks her head against yours as she leans away.

Suddenly, the bubble pops, and you can see the world again. Chan is a few meters away, on the other side of the car, very conspicuously not looking in your direction. The restaurant hasn’t moved or changed in any way, but it no longer looks like a creature out to kill you.

You lock eyes with Chan when he finally glances in your direction and offer him a tense smile. He offers an easier one back, and waves you over.

“Ready to go in?” He asks, like nothing at all had happened. Somehow, you find that reassuring.

“Yeah,” you nod, glancing at the restaurant and the, at Ha-Yun, who gives a tiny encouraging nod, “I’m ready.”

The 'Everything Always' Tag List (aka tagging for progress stuff too): @chancloud8 , @sh0dor1 , @thatgirlangelb

AN: I know you begged for a return of this one, Sho, so merry Christmas ig xD

[mayapapaya33]

People who act like Only Murders in the Building isn't Queer anymore because either their old man yaoi ship didn't happen or because Mabel isn't currently dating a woman need to get over themselves immediately. Bi people are still Bi when they're in a "straight passing" relationship. And yes, Oliver and Charles would make an adorable couple, but Oliver and Loretta are the sweetest couple ever and you're depriving yourself of enjoying a wonderful storyline for no reason. (And if rep is what you're after, how about supporting the rep that is older women getting quality roles, let alone quality ROMANTIC roles, because Hollywood treats women over the age of 35 like garbage and this relationship is like seeing a unicorn in the wild lmfao).

Mabel and Alice dated. That's a thing that happened. Pretending it didn't or doesn't count so you can be performatively mad at the show for no reason is literally Bi phobia, stop it.

Mabel has a new love interest every season! How cool is that? That never happens for Women! Unless they're the joke "slut character" that the show doesn't really respect. But this show does respect Mabel and treats it as a normal, unremarkable, unremarked upon amount of dating for a young woman. Usually that's a "man thing" like James Bond and his Bond Girls who come and go through each storyline. How rad is it that we get these great storylines for female characters now?

Sazz Pataki (pretty sure she's a lesbian but definitely some flavor of queer) is Charles' oldest friend and stunt double and has dated TWO of his girlfriend's lmfao. Jan Bellows is queer, and Cookie is also queer! Howard (the cat guy) and his boyfriend Johnathan are right there and so are Detective Donna Williams and her wife Kiara and son Keith.

Not to mention the tragedy of whatever Uma and Bunny were to each other because it was definitely something. (Ok maybe that one is just my shipper goggles at work but tell me you don't see it I dare you).

Honorable mention to Charles' kinda daughter Lucy who might be thinking about various pronouns aka also casual Queer rep.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I also want to talk about the weird edge to some of the commentary about Oliver and even Martin Short as a real person. If you think about it, some of it is both weirdly homophobic and also inadvertently trying to press toxic masculinity standards onto straight men. I'm referring to the "Wow I can't believe that Martin is straight! There's NO WAY that man is straight! There's no straight explanation for that!" kind of things. Or the "Oliver dating Loretta is so unrealistic, that is a gay man right there! The show is ruined!" people. I get the jokes about how flamboyant Oliver is and a lot of them are fun, but some of them really do end up sounding like the same tired tropes of "emotional flamboyant man likes theater = gay and woman likes sports and cars and flannel = lesbian, uugg uugg."

As for the comments about Martin, look, his chemistry with Steve is off the charts, I get it, but they've been best friends for a thousand years and frankly if your friendship doesn't look a little gay from the outside, is it even really a friendship? lol. Martin Short is a real human being who was with a woman he clearly adored for 36 years, his wife Nancy Dolman, until she died of cancer. He's a confident and charming performer who's comfortable with himself.

I enjoy viewing the character of Oliver through a queer lens, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he at least did some experimenting in the 70's. (He mentioned orgies at some point, are you telling me he was the ONLY guy at the orgies? Come on Oliver!) I'd enjoy it if they explored some element of queerness to the character on the show and I wouldn't be that surprised if they did eventually do that. But there's a difference between that and a forceful attitude of; THERE IS NO WAY A MAN WHO BEHAVES LIKE THAT IS STRAIGHT!!! END OF STORY!!!

First of all, it's just not true. Lots of straight men in the performing arts (or just life in general) are incredibly flamboyant and comfortable with both themselves and things traditionally seen as "queer" and aren't afraid to express themselves beyond the narrow box traditional masculine values would limit them too. Circling back to my earlier points of old man yaoi and biphobia, just because your specific ship didn't happen on the show, it doesn't automatically make the character NOT queer. Again, Bi/Pan people exist. Oliver being in a relationship with Loretta doesn't automatically make him straight, why do I have to explain this on the queer people website?

Also Oliver has two hands, and this is what fanfiction is for. The fact that there aren't a ton of Oliver/Loretta/Charles fics on AO3 is astonishing to me.

[velvetvexations]

Was going through the Playdoughs tag just to see what was up with the Homestuck vs Dykes To Watch Out For stuff and unfortunately saw that she apparently was also trying to paint Leslie Feinberg as a TERF and ngl might be a bit conspiracy brained but between that and the Bechdel stuff I'm wondering if she's just trying to shit on every single notable butch person out of a hatred for transmascs and "TMEs". Like no queer person has ever been perfect, but it's getting sus that transradfems never bring up any of the problems with Whipping Girl and decry anyone who does a transmisognist but they're allowed to shit all over Stone Butch Blues and Dykes To Watch Out For because the authors both have had some questionable takes.

It also especially pisses me the fuck off because Feinburg literally stopped medically transitioning to avoid the separation from the lesbian community(and expirience a bunch of butches say they shared on a post I found from r/ButchLesbians. Legit saw PD claiming the women in the book only exist to prop up tmascs and take care of their emotions which...idk in the context of that passage I legit can't help but feel like she genuinely thinks the isolation that came with transition was just and deserved. PD also compares Feinburg to a cis man writing misogynistic crap about cis women and truly, shut the fuck up. It's possible for anyone to be misogynistic, but Stone Butch Blues very clearly shows not only how much Feinburg valued the women around hir even as they abandoned hir for trying to become who ze wanted to be, but also how much violence and hatred butches and tmascs face, and honestly I think the latter might be her real problem with it. Can't let queer books about tmascs and butches exist, people might realize queer masculinity is actually NOT celebrated by cishet society! And ofc course asking any queer woman to stand in solidary with her butch community members is placing men's emotions over women's and implying women only exist to support and care for men. It would almost be funny if it wasn't so goddamn transphobic and cruel.

Anyway yeah, sorry to vent, that just bothered me so fucking much. I think it's perfectly fine to point out issues with well-known queer authors and activists but when you are specifically attacking masc queer people I start to get suspicious that combating transmisogny might not really be what's driving this. And again, it's awful that anyone could read that book(or just like Feinburg's wiki page) and come away with the belief that society and certain queer spaces never punish queer masculinity. It breaks my butch heart to see all of my fellow butches never making their body a home because they'd rather live a dysphoric life than end up alone with no community. I'd love for any transradfem to read those testimonies and tell me tmascs and butches aren't targeted for their masculinity, I dare them.

some trans women desperately need trans men to be cis men because cis men violently oppressing us isn't enough and they need a direct 1:1 equivalent to the relationship cis women have with cis men to feel validated

[initforthethrill]

thank you thank you for posting the bot and writing my request so fast you're amazing! i have more thoughts (you can take this as a request or just me needing to share my thoughts lmao im not trying to be greedy i just have a lot of... daydreams)

but listennn

i know you write most for masc user (and i have a STRONG preference for feminine women too) but these pics really have me thinking

https://pin.it/ogfuquVDw https://pin.it/2OORH8AZo

just.. asshole cate

like ugh.. her just being so selfish and just using a girl to get off.. she comes first most of the time and is mostly just like 'not my fault you take too long' and just does not care. usually she leaves to take a shower after or wash up or whatever just to be a dick.. gives the girl time to get off herself since Cate isn't gonna do it smh.. but mostly she does end up back in bed with her. cause lowkey she's a softie even though she would never admit it.

cue the girl being a total fucking simp for cate.. like im just thinking she like is IN LOVE with cate. and she really tries and does sweet things for her and tries to get closer. sit together, hold hands, ask on dates (gets constantly rejected).. cate is even a bigger asshole when her friends are around. like laughs and mocks the girl just to make her friends laugh (because she would never show how badly she's falling too).

those pics fit with masc cate and they're what inspired it but like i think it also fits so perfectly with feminine cate and like golden retriever masc girl.. cate's a complete pillow princess. the girl is like completely head over heels for cate - maybe like after the first time they hooked up she 'misread' the situation.. and she's such a hopeless romantic, she buys cate flowers and brings them to her while cate is sat out in the quad with her friends.. and her friends know what cate is like so they all kinda go silent waiting for a reaction but then cate scoffs and laugh.. makes some shitty remark and makes her friends laugh..

mannn idk which version masc or femme cate in this i like more (lowkey leaning for femme now that i wrote it out icl).. but she just looks so fucking hot in those pics ugh i love when femme women dress masc (another idea.. cate borrows golden retriever girl's clothes occasionally, even though she really doesn't give a shit about her and she certainly doesn't like that it soothes that possessive urge in her when she gets to wear her clothes)

okay let me break this down to properly respond to everything lol!

first of all, you’re very welcome! i can’t promise all the requests will get fulfilled as quickly as this one was but i will do my best :) now go and ruin religiously repressed cate one sinful bathroom encounter at a time to your little gay heart’s content—and please never stop being greedy pouring out all your filthy little cate thoughts into my askbox<3

okay so…the way i barked at this image (which still to this day lives rent free in my mind) like the degree to which i need this woman is honestly probably offensive to lesbianism...anyways!

yes i can totally write masc cate…sometimes i do get the urge for douchebag!cate and want her to treat me like i’m her worthless emotional support butch so! this should be a relatively easy request to fulfill LOL i’ll throw it on the list alongside a somewhat mirrored femme version too since i enjoy your asks so much anon<3

in the meantime...take this blurb i cooked up real quick for masc cate hehe :3

masc douchebag fuckboy!cate

Cate came first.

That was just how it went. Every time.

Her hand would press to the back of your neck, urging you lower, or fisting in your shirt when she straddled your lap, grinding against you until she got what she wanted—sometimes with a breathy fuck, sometimes with a sigh and a lazy smirk, sometimes without a word at all.

And then she’d roll off, already stretching like a satisfied cat, slipping off the bed with that same practiced indifference, as though none of it meant anything. It didn’t, obviously. She’d say that aloud if you ever asked. (You didn’t.)

“Not my fault you take too long,” Cate would mutter, reaching for the towel she always kept slung over the back of her chair. “Bathroom’s free.”

And you would lie there. Heart racing. Breathing hard. Thighs slick. Wanting more.

You’d wait, like always. Let the heat fade. Let the ache settle. Touch yourself if you really needed to, curled up in Cate’s sheets that still smelled like her stupid perfume—some sharp designer thing layered over the citrus shampoo she didn’t share.

Sometimes Cate came back. Not always. But when she did, it was quieter.

No teasing. No talking. Just the sound of the mattress dipping under her weight, and the gentle drag of fingers across your stomach as she slid beneath the covers again. Like she didn’t mean to reach for you. Like she accidentally curled up against your back and fell asleep there, breath hot against your spine.

The next morning? Cate would be a menace again.

“God, you’re obsessed with me,” she’d scoff, rolling her eyes when you tried to hold her hand in the hallway. “You’re like a lost puppy.”

But you were already used to it—Cate keeping you at arm’s length while tugging you close with the other hand behind closed doors. You crave her. And Cate knows it.

Even when Cate is cruel, you still look at her like she’d hung the stars just for you.

Sometimes you brought Cate breakfast. Those overpriced pastries she liked. Coffee exactly how she took it. Once, you showed up outside Cate’s dorm at midnight with a lighter engraved with her initials and a stupid excuse about how Cate was always losing hers. Cate hadn’t even said thank you, just rolled her eyes and kissed you until you forgot why you were standing there in the first place.

The worst part? Cate wasn’t even nice when her friends were around. If anything, she was worse.

One time you showed up to the quad with two smoothies, trying to be sweet, and Cate looked you up and down and went, “Aw, babe, did you think this was a date?” Her friends howled. Cate handed off the drink—your drink—to Luke and didn’t even look at you when she added, “You’re cute. Just not in a meet-the-parents kind of way.”

It stung. But you laughed. Played it off. Went home and cried into your pillow like an idiot, then texted Cate anyway to say you hoped her day went okay.

And still, still—

Cate came back.

Slipped into your dorm past midnight with wet hair and bare legs and one of your hoodies, pretending not to care. “I was bored,” she’d say, even though her voice was quiet and her eyes didn’t leave your face.

You would open your arms, and Cate would slide between them like she belonged there.

Maybe she did.

Because sometimes—sometimes—Cate softened. Let herself be held. Let you kiss the top of her head without so much as a snarky comment. Let you touch gently, sweetly, even if she sighed like it was a favor. Even if she muttered, “You’re so clingy,” with her fingers curled around the hem of your shirt, refusing to let go as she rode your face into the mattress.

And sometimes, when she thought you were asleep, Cate whispered your name. Real soft. Like it hurt to say.

She never stuck around for breakfast. Never held your hand in public. Never called you her girlfriend.

But she kept coming back.

And you kept letting her.

♡ | masc menace ♡ | fatal femme

[official-wales]

hi! i am unfortunately an American (booooo) and am very interested in wales and welsh culture (autism sees welsh shit and says !!!!!!!!) is there any books or anything you recommend to learn abt wales?

is there anything i should be worried about doing thats bad? the last thing i wanna do is upset real people or like fetishize welsh culture and shit. i just wanna learn abt yall

( and also maybe live there one day because i am not staying in this hellhole)

also i saw Nye in theatres and it ruled it was so good

SHWMAE! YOU HAVE COME TO THE RIGHT PLACE :D

Honestly, the main things to remember if you're worried about offending people is 1) we're not England, and 2) we don't all watch Gavin and Stacey, please if another person asks me about Barry Island, I'm going to commit violence

I don't have any specific book recommendations, but I'd definitely recommend looking into the Welsh language if you haven't already. With any celtic language, it's important to respect it as a language in its own right, especially since they're quite different to what English-speakers 'expect' (i.e. different pronunciations, structure and spellings, almost as if it's not English!)

As it's almost Christmas, you could have a look into Mari Lwyd as well - a Welsh Victorian wassailing tradition where a horse skull on a stick demands entry into your home to drink your alcohol (not a mythical cryptid, sorry). Very fun.

Two films which are really good and focus on Welsh life are Twin Town and Pride. Twin Town's set in Swansea (South Wales) about two brothers who terrorise the city. The only reason I mention it is because my old science teacher played any extra in one of the scenes. Pride is based on a true story about the lesbian and gay supporters of the Welsh miners' strike in 1984. Very emotional.

If anyone could comment below with book or documentary recommendations, that would be great!

And, because I'm Stereotypical Wales Incarnate, here's some YouTube videos! As a treat.

[gachaclubideas]

My Moonlight University villains

Moonlight University belong to @hayati-gacha

Red Butterfly Witch

Real name: Lauren Valdez

Gender: female (she/her)

GL2 code: H4V3E4KNF

Sexuality: Lesbian

She maintains a calm and aloof demeanor at all times

She uses her butterflies that can transform people experiencing negative emotions into villains. Red Butterfly Witch shows understanding and empathy towards her victims, and gives the freedom to choose the powers and names they want

Red Butterfly Witch is proving to the people that she is not a bad person that she understands their pain than anyone else, and then giving them the power to soothe and erase their problems

This will make the people support her unconditionally thinking that she is their saviour

The Game Master

Real name: Vlad Cuevas

Gender: genderfluid (they/them)

GL2 code: C6OYZREHM

Sexuality: pansexual

Extra info: a vampire and used to be a student of Moonlight University

The Game Master is playful, inscrutable, and manipulative. They are described as a trickster who enjoys turning things into farces and manipulating others.

The Game Master get bullied a lot due to having lower scores. The reason why they got expelled because they got framed

The Game Master thought ‘If they're so smart, why not create a game for them. Yes! A game that can make those smart students went insane, a game that can entertain myself!’

And so, The Game Master capture the smart students he could find, and put them into their first game. It was so interesting for The Game Master. Exposing dark secrets, betrayal and torture. It was all fun to watch!

Template belong to @alistuff-zzz

[sunsetcarnation264]

Professor Layton queer hcs and thoughts

Since it's pride month, and I've been seeing pride shit for the series (at least some so far lol), I might as well throw my headcanons thus far. I know I did pride icons for like three of these babies so far but shhh more details-

Hershel Layton

Demibisexual

He's known since his teen years. Randall used to tease him a little about how he takes a million years to fall for someone

(Really it just takes like a year of bonding with the person to gain any attraction to them if it happens at all)

"Oh, yes I need to bond with someone first before I could like any man or woman." "Ohhhh so you're demi!" "…I'm what now?" "Demi! Needing a strong emotional bond before you could fall for someone!" "Wait, I thought that was normal. You mean to tell me you're not kidding about finding someone you don't know that well attractive or just asking them out on a date?"

Luke Triton

Bisexual

Intersex (partial androgen insensitivity syndrome to be more specific)

He's had comments from other people about how feminine he looks, but for the most part he's never really gotten any shit. With what he did get shit for, though, whether it's directly or indirectly… let's just say his parents (especially Clark) had a few words with said people

Clark and Brenda are extremely supportive of him. They love him as he is and they wouldn't change a single thing, they just want him to be happy and healthy

Puberty is partially Hell™ for him at first because of gynecomastia (or essentially, man boobs)

Randall Ascot

Genderqueer (she/her and he/him pronouns)

Omnisexual lesbian

Refers to himself as a lesbian because of being with Angela (who's an ally, she loves her regardless of how she identifies)

She was actually nervous coming out to Angela, Henry, and Hershel. One confident man's weakness: coming out as a genderqueer lesbian to her closest friends and lover whose opinions matter very much. Tells Angela (intentional), Hershel (accidental), and Henry (intentional) in that order

Stansbury is supportive, but because Randall is EXTREMELY annoying about it, they're just like "oh God damnit here we go again" with him. Basically Fuck You in Particular™ with her lmao

Angela helps Randall with trying different styles to see what works for him and what doesn't. Even if there were some clothes she didn't like, both of them have a lot of fun with it

Flora Reinhold

Lesbian. I dunno why I keep thinking that with her whenever I look at Flora, I'm not at the original trilogy yet, but. Lesbian

Doesn't realize she could like girls at first. She was never told that she didn't have to like guys if she didn't feel it, so when she realized guys could like guys and girls could like girls? …Oh. O h. Flora be having some Realizations™

Luke sometimes teases Flora about having a crush on a girl (whether she actually does or not) and it's all light-hearted fun

If I think of more I'll either reblog the post or make a sequel one, or any changes to what's been said here

[couldtransitionsaveher]

ARTHUR MORGAN from RED DEAD REDEMPTION

JUSTIFICATIONS:

"Maybe estrogen could've fought off the tuberculosis. But for serious, she's in a much needed self esteem boost. While there's not a lot to support the transfem idea It's just very personal to me. Those subtle moments where she talks about how much she understands the women throughout the game had me so emotional. (also the fact she's so very eldest daughter coded). There is also a very subtle dialogue exchange where it's heavily implied she's crossdressed before. There's also a mission with a crossdresser where she seems understanding of him. Not to imply trans women are crossdressers but it's the 1800s and that's the closest thing Arthur's got to exploring her own feminity. It also just would've made her cooler and lesbian but I rest my case." - Anonymous

"Mission in game where Arthur says he understands why a man transitioned into a woman. Very close with every woman in camp and speaks about men like he couldn't possibly relate to them because they're men in his journal and other dialogues." - Anonymous

Reminder: Submissions are always open! Submit here!

Did you make your daily click today?

[allthecastlesonclouds]

well don't twist my arm or anything <3 (warning: oc rambles beneath the cut)

meet the queer historian adventuring party emotional support group! their resolve is all slowly being whittled away and their group chat is insane <3

Clementine Verity!

Tiefling

Archaeologist, specialty: Solesian Monarchy

Necromantic Wizard Level 4

She says she's going to kill Arthur Aguefort at least once a day and she does truly want to but she's never gonna actually do it. she's also constantly two steps away from sending him a strongly worded letter to let her go invisible in the past for like an hour

she's the one writing the fic asdklfjjklasdfh

Lesbian

grew up in Ashgrove, moved to Elmville after going to college

very very interested in the intersectionality of the solesian monarchy but also like. gets so distracted by the minutiae

"clementine isn't this paper about the tapestries?" "yeah why" "you've gone on about the presence of embroideries in grave sites.." "oh. oh shit that's not. that's not that relevant D:" "nope"

entirely honestly like everyone else here half the spell levels were picked up by necessity for the craft and the other half were just from studying a bunch of spellcasters

Mimi Keenvale

Lightfoot Halfling

Linguistic Anthropologist (especially Common and Halfling and what hybrid languages have come out of them)

Divination Wizard Level 4

"excuse me they asked for no pickles" type energy. honestly for their personal research their skin is clear their crops are watered they have a wonderful sample set around them

she's clementine's partner also

mimi's kind of just along for the ride. she works with evie a lot though because both of their work kind of takes them to a bunch of different places (being the two non-archaeology based of the group

Evelear Lorawynn

High Elf

Cultural Anthrologist (currently very invested in how towns nearby the Necronomicron work)

Divine Soul Sorcerer Level 4

evie <3

immigrant to Solace after being a teenager and spending like. three years in Kei Lumennura. she needed stimulation and to learn things so she went to a nonstatic nonadventuring college

their token straight (she's very much not cis) (she/he pronouns and also she can only explain his gender in elvish that is somehow entirely untranslatable even through a comprehend langauge)

he's married to a lovely half-elf (they all think his name is richmond but nobody's actually sure) she met here in solace and somehow every time there's an unplanned group call they're trying to have a date night

very much "nora baby are you back in the temple again?" "(anguished) I'M BACK IN THE TEMPLEEEE" "oh, god... well babe i gotta go stop my friends from tearing out their hair and skin besides"

so put together and then he misses one (1) trance and it's entirely "aren't you tired of being nice? don't you just want to go apeshit??"

Nora Matthews

Human

Archaeologist (Focus on the [Ancestral] Giant Pantheon) (most specifcally Ankarna but she is also intensely invested in the Fall Sibling as well)

Circle of the Moon Druid Level 4

Worshiper of the Raven Queen

she's so close to breaking down sobbing at kristen applebees' feet if she ever meets her. what do you meannnnnn you and your friends revived TWO gods??? over your SCHOOL BREAKS??? she's been trying to get to fallinel the past year and a half since Cassandra's name reappeared

was so close to being shatterstarred well and truly she spends so much time in that goddamn temple and when she saw the name reappear. i fear she began sobbing and proclaiming she was going to "destroy the building with her own two horns" before turning into a ram and needing to be restrained by the rest of the group

there's a reason their groupchat is named "i'm back in the fucking temple"

she's been trying to figure out who ankarna was for 17 years

polyam, two partners (neither of which are in this field)

Jotar Bonesweaver

Dwarf

Archaeological Anthropologist (specifically burial practices around Spyre)

Necromantic Wizard, Level 2; Grave Cleric Level 2

Worshipper of the Raven Queen

joey!

she's from Mount Shieldgaze

has the interesting experience of Hates How Hair Feels but also Knows Hair Is Important To Identity so. she's playing with it (she is actively in her. 40s)

very tense relationship with clementine. they're besties but also if You Touch My Stuff I'll Kill You <3 they work really closely together out of the six of them, along with Vera, so it happens. vera ends up being the mediator and they are so tired of this bullshit

She and Nora pray together! absolute asscrack of dawn praying time and if the whole group is together at least one person's going to wake up grumbling because they can hear them from the next room before remembering Oh That's My Friends and falling back asleep

"I know Kalvaxus was like a pretty bad guy but seriously i think he was onto something with that poison tea do you think if we brought poison tea into that fuckass school aguefort would drink it"

Vera Willem

Human

Archaeologist (Solesian History) (Also invested in the monarchy but more interested in the spread of different inventions)

Spirits Bard Level 4

Harbours an intense hatred for Arthur Aguefort that fae's never acted on but dear LORD does he want to sometimes

she settles for meaningless threats. "i'm going to blow up that entire school just to get these fuckass adventurers out of the way they keep killing my interviewees" "vera you can't murder that many children" "shit"

Harroway Bay originally, moved to Bastion City for college and then to Elmville where she met Clementine and Mimi

they're solidly the middle ground person of the group and god do they hate it