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prettyinaccurate · 4 months

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Okay so I have a question...is there a specific way you can describe the type of love Arthur and Graham have for each other? The way I see it, they love each other in a way that isn't romantic (Graham is aromantic and you've previously stated that their relationship never becomes romantic) but, it's also beyond platonic. They're friends, but, there's some kind of feeling rattling in their chest that makes them feel like the other is...special, somehow, y'know? Like some kind of fascination, without that specific romantic label, but they also aren't JUST friends who are sexually attracted to each other and that's it. I've been thinking about this on and off for a little while and wanted to hear your two cents.

Acceptance is all that makes them special :]

(More in depth analysis under the cut)

The thing that makes their relationship so unique is the aspect of acceptance that neither have found elsewhere. For Graham, no one likes him; he is hated (and sometimes even feared) by the community due to the nature of his work. Also, especially for someone in victorian society, he lacks the awareness or want to conform to social standards. Every time Graham goes out to find "company" it's a brief and rough engagement that leaves no room for conversation or connection. He is not interested in romance, and he's not interested in friendship if it means he has to change.

But then here appears Arthur, who has never asked him to change. Arthur is, by nature, polite, accepting, and forgiving. He's also exceptionally boring; has never had someone so outwardly fascinated by him. Arthur was always more focused on his work (helping people medically) than forming bonds. But Graham shows interest in him beyond that polite acknowledgement required by society. As such, Graham pushes boundaries that no one else ever bothered to, inserting himself happily into Arthur's life.

Graham and Arthur fit together because they're so different on the surface. One is too abrasive to make friends, and the other not enough. They're only "exclusive" to the extent that neither have emotional connections outside each other. Graham still sleeps around (bc Arthur is painfully vanilla) and they aren't in love, but they are special to one another. Acceptance! That's the catalyst of their relationship.

#pi speaks #id call them queer platonic but even that doesn't feel quite fitting #its just... them :3 #character analysis #gothic lit oc #ocs #graham f. hurst #arthur cailbhin

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plazmafields · 5 months

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I've been trying to think recently why I find the age gap with V and Kerry to be endearing, when normally I feel an age gap over 10 years is problematic. Here's what I think:

(Long rambling ahead along with minor spoilers maybe)

There is a power imbalance between V and Kerry, in multiple ways. Kerry is much older, yes, but he also makes a lot more money. Like shit tons of money. The first time I romanced Kerry, I thought the romance arch was lacking because of the way Kerry never initiated. However, taking into account that V is 23, Kerry's tendency to wait for V to make the first move actually feels very appropriate.

Kerry's dealing with a lot of mixed emotions about Johnny being back. The fact that he never processed his inferiority complex while Johnny was alive, then as soon as Johnny died he jumped right into an ego-driven, spite-fueled solo career that took him straight to the top, and now Johnny's back as a digital parasite? And Kerry has a crush on his host?? Wild.

I think that's ONE of the reasons Kerry doesn't flirt with V outright: he's super confused about the way he feels about V, and whether or not those feelings are overlapping with the way he feels about Johnny. Is he so excited to see Johnny that he could just smooch him (platonic)? Is he simply grateful to V for pulling him out of a depressive episode? Is he still a little horny for Johnny like when they first formed Samurai? Is being attracted to someone 70 years younger than him the first sign of a life crisis starting? Maybe Kerry would rather be safe than sorry, and not act on his feelings for V while he's processing all that other stuff.

This shifts the power back into V's hands, who really doesn't have a lot of control over how the media will interpret their relationship, even if it remains platonic (vs. Kerry who has lawyers, and past experience with the media and dating while in the spotlight). This gives V the opportunity to decide if there are any romantic feelings there, instead of falling for the advances of someone very influential and rich. Those two facts could very easily convince someone that their starstruck reaction was actually love. This way, if V is in control of initiation, Kerry can be sure that he's not coercing V into starting anything they may not fully want; a relationship with ramifications V may not be fully aware of. He can be sure V's decision was not inadvertently rushed by anything Kerry may have said/done.

In our world, age gaps in gay relationships are not treated the same as they are in straight relationships, especially when it comes to gay men. I am not saying this is good or bad. But, it is a "trope", one could say, that younger gay men sometimes gravitate toward men many years older than them. I personally feel this is two fold: older gay men who are out publicly may find it hard to find others in their age range who are unashamed of their queerness, due to internalized social pressure. And younger gay men may find it difficult to navigate their sexuality on their own as it applies to daily life (specifically in American culture) and seek the guidance of veteran gays. If we translate that trend into the Cyberpunk world, where life expectancy is DECADES longer than ours, then perhaps Night Citizens wouldn't bat an eye at someone in their 20s dating someone in their 80s. (I'm sure that gap is stretching things a bit even for Cyberpunk standards, but maybe 30s dating 60s isn't uncommon.)

Another aspect of this is something they mention out right during Boat Drinks: Kerry doesn't act his age. He's getting there, but he's got the maturity of someone around V's age. I truly believe his stunted growth as a person is due to being constantly discredited and invalidated by Johnny. I mean, Kerry doesn't seem to have much in common with his former band mates, who have all moved on with their lives and found their versions of success (except maybe Henry). The people he gets along with best are a group of 20-something pop stars from a different part of the world, and V, also in their 20s. Kerry has been trying to prove himself for so long that his personality got stuck somewhere between starting Samurai and Johnny dying.

Lastly, I just wanna point out that V and Kerry's relationship as presented to us in game, with no outside context or deliberation, is inherently problematic. The age gap, the power imbalance, the wealth disparity, V possibly being a symptom of Kerry's three-quarter life crisis or a rebound or the second best thing to Johnny; Johnny being in the picture at all. A relationship doesn't have to be perfect for someone to like it, and it certainly doesn't reflect what they find acceptable in their own relationships. It's all fiction, it's all fantasy. If you want to theorize about how Kerry and V actually have a super healthy relationship, that's awesome! If you love the idea that they just kind of wound up together and this isn't a permanent situation for either of them, that's great! If you believe the relationship is completely toxic and you're loving the drama of it all, that's cool too!

With what the game has given us, and the fact that Kerry's writers' work could be interpreted in endless ways, I think the age gap was handled in such a way that it can be excused (or even played into) if you feel it works with your headcanon, or used as a catalyst for drama if that suits your imagination better. What's important is that it never feels predatory. And to me, that's good writing.

With my personal headcanon for my oc of V, I've decided his relationship with Kerry is perfectly passable. They're not a perfect couple, they lack communication skills and often butt heads over the other's tendency to put work over their relationship (both of them stubbornly insisting only the other one has a problem), but I like them that way.

#my laptop is being repaired so i cant play the game i just have to sit here thinking about it #cyberpunk 2077 #cyberpunk #cbp 2077 #cyberpunk2077 #cbp2077 #cbp77 #cyberpunk 77 #v cyberpunk #v x kerry #male v #male v x kerry #johnny silverhand #johnny x kerry #kerry x v #kerry eurodyne

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project-sekai-facts · 5 months

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Asking this because I genuinely need an explanation, not as a counterargument.

I'm 100% aware of the queer erasure going on in JP → EN translations. The shameless hiding of LGBTQ+ subtext is ridiculous. However, some examples have been bothering me lately ("bothering" as in, I've been thinking about them a lot), these examples being the lack of usage of the word "love", especially in one of Minori's.

In one of Minori's dialogues, she states that she loves Haruka (originally using "daisuki", if I recall correctly). The expression "love" in this case gets translated to "have feelings for", which is considered to be erasure. That's what bugs me: why would it be queer erasure?

In my first language, Spanish, we have the expression "te quiero" (literally "I want you", though it has no possessive connotations and it's a more toned version of loving), and the stronger "te amo" ("I love you"). The latter is generally used romantically, though it can be used in other contexts (I tell my deepest and closest friends both "te quiero" and "te amo", for example). From my understanding, English doesn't have an equivalent to "te quiero", so "I love you" can apply in any context.

However, and again, to my understanding, "having feelings for someone" is only ever used romantically. Maybe it's weaker than loving someone in a sense, but still, you wouldn't say you have feelings for someone who you wish to have/maintain a platonic relationship with (correct me if I'm wrong).

So, to my understanding:

"daisuki" → [strong] loving someone, with vague connotations (generally interpreted as romantic)

"I love you" → [strong] certainly used romantically, yet it can be platonic or familial too

"I have feelings for you" → [weaker] used romantically.

Does that make sense or am I being ignorant?

Ah sorry if I confused you with that example from the MMJ main story. I don't think it's erasure because the EN translation keeps the pretty much the same meaning, I pointed it out because of EN's refusal to translate the words suki/daisuki as love in certain instances.

EN seems to be willing to translate suki/daisuki directly when it's being used to talk about things or aspects of a person, like in these instances:

However, when it's used directly about a person, the translators always find some way around it, like in these instances:

(An/Kohane are an exception and iirc siblings are too?)

(Also in the Asahi example he uses a conjugated form of horeru but it means pretty much the same thing)

Whilst most of these convey the original meaning to some degree and don't really count for erasure, it's still odd that EN will not let the characters say they love each other. It's not even like it has to be interpreted romantically. Like it's firmly established that Leo/need are childhood best friends from the start, I don't think a lot of readers are going to jump straight to romance if the girls said they love each other. It's like they're removing it as a "just in case" so that no one can view it as romantic at all.

Yeah, you're right that "having feelings for someone" is by far more commonly used in a romantic sense. Whilst some people irl probably use it platonically (most likely aspec ppl), in media you're really only going to hear it used romanitcally. It's not weaker than "I love you" imo, but it depends on who you ask because to other people it might be weaker/stronger.

#asks #mod talks #sorry for late reply orz

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aro-but-not-ace · 29 days

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Being in relationships as a romance neutral/favorable aro (for alloro readers with aro partners)

I’m romance neutral* and greyromantic*. I have been in romantic relationships. I don’t believe I was attracted to my partners as much as people thought I was. But I chose to be in those relationships and stayed with those people until other factors didn’t work out (ie unfixable communication issues or different long term goals).

I’ve had some of my partners ask “so you don’t love me?” when I opened up more about being arospec with a sad tone in their voice. Or I’ve had friends say “why would you be someone’s partner if you don’t love them?” with a hint of judgment and disdain as they say it.

Here is how I look at it, and keep in mind, this is most likely NOT a universal aro experience. BUT I know that some alloro people worry that since their aro partners don’t “love” them, they can’t be sure about their relationship at all.

Aromanticism is the lack of romantic attraction. In my personal experience, this generally means I have equal attraction to everybody in a romantic sense (side note, this is why I thought I was biromantic for a long time). So, imagine, baseline I just feel neutral about everyone. My relationships are largely based upon experiences and connections I have with people, not solely on attraction.

A lot of my partners thought that this means I feel less about them or that they were just like everyone else. But here’s the thing—I literally chose them out of everyone else to be partners with. In a broader sense, take how alloplatonic* people view friendships: you may be closer with some friends, you may trust some friends with certain things more, or you might have just become friends and are learning more about each other. These people are all friends, and the friendship dynamic isn’t always built on platonic attraction. It can be extremely circumstantial.

If you worry about your aro partner leaving you because they’re aro, I assure you that they will not just up and leave at random just because they’re aro. If they do, there is a very different reason for that. It’s a very personal and complex topic. It ties into factors such as commitment, communication, life goals, and relationship satisfaction and compatibility.

So if anyone is alloromantic and questioning if they can be in a relationship with an aro person, think about it this way: the question shouldn’t be “do they love me?”, and try thinking about it as “do they care for me?”

Glossary* and footnotes after the break

Just some disclaimers so I don’t have to explain later:

1. Yes, some aro people can feel love in other ways. Yes, some aros are loveless. We are all different. I mostly think that alloro people associate “do they love me?” directly with “do they love me romantically?”, which is understandable, but personally I think that in any relationship, CARE and ACTION are the most important aspects in any relationship. Even in an allo relationship, two people can love each other but not properly care for one another.

2. Also, love is not easily defined, so “do they care for me” presents a much more concrete and observable question that is much less stressful than “do they love me?” And I say this as someone who ended up in abusive situations because I told myself “well, they love me, so this must be fine.” I am mostly making this post to tell alloromantic people that being aro does not directly affect how someone may act in a relationship. Yes, it might be a factor, but saying aro = unloving partner is not true and extremely harmful.

3. I wrote this while sleep deprived and I talk a lot when sleep deprived so sorry if this all made no sense or was very rambley.

*GLOSSARY:

Romance neutral - feeling indifferent to romance, whether it be romantic coded actions (ie kissing, hugging, cuddling, etc), romantic situations (ie dates), or the general idea of a romantic relationship

Romance favorable - desiring to engage in romance despite being aromantic, generally the opposite of being romance repulsed

Greyromantic - feeling romantic attraction but less frequently or intensely as alloromantic people. Also an umbrella term for other microlabels in the aro community

Alloplatonic - people who feel platonic (friend) attraction, as opposed to being aplatonic (lacking platonic attraction)

#aromantic #aromanticism #arospec #romance neutral #romance favorable #alloromantic #alloro #aro relationships #aspec #aromantic spectrum #aro #lgbtq #queer #relationships #lgbtq+#lowkey i just realized i am a sociology major rn and i can write a paper about this #that’s unrelated but now i wanna write about relationship dynamics within aspec x allo partners #anyways. this has been on my brain for a while

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starastrologyy · 1 year

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Astrology Observations 💠

(Crazy to think that I started this blog in May/June and I’m almost at 2k followers! Thank you all!)

Please don’t plagiarize anything that I write🤍

Venus square Neptune in a natal chart has always been very interesting to me. Most people would describe it as someone who had the propensity to become delusional in love, or romantically deceptive. However, I’ve found that these people often give other people the benefit of the doubt, to their own detriment. Individuals with this placement, often want to see the best in people (both romantically and platonically), and thus they frequently find themselves drawn to people who need help in some way. There could be a person who is widely known as “bad news”, but an individual with Venus square Neptune in their charts is likely to still give them a chance, or go against their better judgement. This aspect gives people a tremendous amount of compassion, but it can also put someone in really unfavorable associations.

If you have Venus square Neptune in synastry with someone (2 degrees or less), you may find yourself drinking, smoking, or ‘partying’ a lot with this person. Neptune represents illusions, escapism, and it is often linked to addictions/mind altering substances. Alternatively, you may find that this is the setting in which you two met! At a party, or whilst you were doing something that can be described as “Neptunian”. It can also be that you met near water! At the beach, by a lake etc… I’ve actually seen this happen on very many occasions.

If you have the ruler of your 7th house placed in your 11th, you are likely to meet long-term partners through friends, social media, or anything that involves philanthropy/humanitarianism. Your long-term partner may actually be someone you were friends with for a long time, or perhaps you meet them through mutual friends. A project that involves “large groups” of people can also be how you meet your long-term partner.

I personally attract 8th house Synastry to me, like a moth to a flame. Nevertheless, I prefer it to 12th house synastry, as I’m never on the same page as the people I have 12th house synastry with. But anyway, something I just recently came to realize; is there’s a huge difference in terms of how I felt when it comes to Venus in 8th house synastry, and Mars in the 8th house synastry. When it came to having someone’s Venus in my 8th house, I genuinely felt that they were attracted to me and found me beautiful (even if there were no major aspects between their personal planets and my Ascendant). However, when someone’s Mars fell in my 8th house, I felt as if it was more of a sexual attraction and lust! I didn’t necessarily feel like they found me attractive beyond a sexual infatuation. Of course you may have a completely different experience if someone has their mars in your 8th, AND their Venus making a conjunction to your Ascendant. But I feel as if 8H Mars synastry has the propensity to feel very superficial or “icky” for lack of a better word, if it is not supported by other aspects that indicate a genuine attraction.

Venus square Mars in synastry can manifest as a “one night stand”. This aspect is actually common in the synastry between people who are having affairs. If this aspect is not supported by positive Saturn aspects, it can indicate a very steamy but very brief romance.

Uranus in the 7th house of a composite chart, can point to an “on-again-off again” relationship.

If you have the asteroid “Nessus” in the 11th house, you may find that you attract ��friends’ who harbor deep resentments towards you. Any type of malefic in the 11th house makes maintaining and and attracting genuine friendships quite difficult.

Transit Pluto squaring, opposing, or making a conjunction to your natal Venus, can indicate a time in which you are attracting intense and transformative relationship experiences. You may consider yourself to be quite laid back and non-reactive. However, when these transits occur you may find yourself feeling things more deeply. Jealousy, possessiveness, obsession, and power struggles are all characteristic of these transits. Sometimes, you may actually attract people (especially lovers) who have disting scorpionic/plutonic characteristics. You may find yourself acting in ways that are uncharacteristic of your true nature.

Mars dominant women may find that they have a lot of male friends, or perhaps they resonate with energies that are more “masculine”.

Ceres aspects in synastry, can show how we nurture the other, and how they nurture us. If you have aspects between ceres & mercury, that can indicate a great deal of mental and intellectual nurturing between two people. If your ceres aspects another persons ascendant, you may feel the need to nurture them physically, or literally protect them. When it comes to this synastry, trines and sextiles are preferred! The hard aspects can actually indicate a lack of nurturing between two people.

Please note that I’m keeping my readings open for the next week before I close for the Christmas period and open them up again in the new year!🤍

#astrology tumblr #astrology #synastry #astrology observations #astrology blog #astrologyposts #astro posts #astro thoughts #astro notes #astrology tips #astrology content #astro tips #aries #astro blog #astrologyreadings #astrology community #astrology readings #sagittarius

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scrumptiousfoxglitter · 2 months

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Internalized arophobia is such a weird thing. Like, I realized I was aromantic and asexual at basically the same time, but I had a much easier time coming to terms with being ace than I did being aro. My family's fairly religious (and accepting, thank goodness), so the asexual thing was great because that basically meant I'm incapable of committing the sin of lust, and I was always fairly repulsed by the idea of a sexual relationship anyways. But aro? No, no, that can't be right. Not me, right? I remember waiting for my first crush like it would be some kinda orientation box opening where I'd have no idea what I'd get. Even now, loveless aros are still a thing I'm not fully used to. Like, most aros don't care that the allos are allo-ing, they care about the amatonormativity ever present in society that makes it so they should feel obligated to "make up" for their lack of attraction with platonic love, because you won't be accepted otherwise. My internalized arophobia isn't helped by the fact that there's only one other aro person I know, the only reason I found out about it was through a Jaiden YouTube video. I thought the A was for ally for so, so long. There's nothing wrong with an aro showing every person they come across platonic affection, and there's nothing wrong with aros who wanna hide away with all of the garlic bread they could get their hands on and becoming the hermit they were always meant to be. There's nothing inherently wrong with aromantic people who want sexual intercourse. And you know what, I'm probably aegoromantic. Sure, I love my fair share of shipping, but when it involves me? I'd really, REALLY rather not. I'd prefer to live in an apartment complex with people who share my interests while residing with my immediate family and the 12 cats I found on the street. And even though it took me some time, I'm okay with that, or at least beginning to be. I've got plenty of flaws, but not being interested in romance isn't one of them, and it never was. Which is more or less why I've started surrounding myself with the aro/ace flag more often. Because it's a reminder of an aspect of me I was internally bigoted about, even after I incorporated it into my identity and even a bit now.

I'm asexual AND aromantic, and it's so facking cool that I am.

Congrats, you finished reading the ramblings of a queer homo-sapien. Here, have some garlic bread, you earned it:

Ft. Self indulgent Apple Horse cameo.

#actually aromantic #aromantic #asexual #aromantic asexual #aromantic spectrum #aromantic pride #aroace spectrum #aroace #aroacespec #ramblings #Applejack cameo #shoutout to aro/allos #as the saying goes; “Let them eat cake.”

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lord-squiggletits · 3 months

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For the Salty Asks (forgive us for the avalanche, if it's too many you can pick your top three): 2, 9, 10, 11, 13 (Optimus), 20, 25 (IDW1), 26

uhhh honestly I feel a bit like a hermit who's out of the loop on what's popular/unpopular so some of these might be completely off the mark but here we go

2. Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?

Mmmm I think most of my brotp's aren't shipped as OTPs to start with, so I dunno if I have any that fit this question.

Guess the closest example for me would be OPli/ta. I don't actively platonically ship them but I think platonic is way more interesting than romantic. I don't like the fandom's interpretation of romantic O/Plita at all + I feel like as one of the original "token woman" Autobots, I'd like to see Elita unshackled from Optimus as a love interest, esp because any official interpretation of them is probably gonna be written extremely heteronormatively/token romance between an action hero and The Girl. And the fanon version of them that's Strong Independent Girlboss Elita with whipped simp husbnad Optimus is just as boring and gross.

I just don't like the vibes and would rather them have some sort of friendly or regular relationship together.

9. Most disliked character(s)? Why?

IDW1 Slide, who I've gone into detail about my hatred of in several posts, but the TLDR is that she comes off as some kind of mouthpiece character? Not a mouthpiece as in for the author's beliefs, but it literally feels like she only exists to shit on Optimus and call him a piece of shit. Her dialogue is so cheesily written ("literally fascism" is an actual thing she says) and her bitching/lack of cultural comprehension about Cybertronian history is so prevalent, that for a long time during my IDW1 reading I was genuinely confused as to whether she was supposed to be some sort of parody/strawman/mockery of someone IRL (her character comes off almost EXACTLY like an anti-SJW stereotype of a screeching harpy calling everyone she dislikes a fascist, and it's only Barber's very obviously left-leaning writing in other parts of the story that told me that definitely wasn't the intent). So then I was wondering "okay is she gonna like, randomly become evil and turn against the good guys because she's just that petty? I mean she spends all of her time bitching about how Optimus/the Autobots/Cybertronians in general are the worst ever and she also hates humans too so I mean maybe? Half of this story already doesn't make sense so I can see it happening."

Thankfully that didn't happen, but like. Slide is so goddamn annoying and ignorant and gets way too much page time dedicated to her angry monologuing (in Unicron aka the finale of IDW1 there's literally a whole half page panel of her bitching about how Optimus is an evil tyrant while Trypticon is dying behind her and it comes off as a poorly timed, bad taste joke). The narrative treats her like she's some important individual whose feelings are important and valid, but she's fucking annoying. Any sympathy she was meant to garner is canceled out by badly written dialogue and the fact that she's a Literal Nobody of a character who seemingly only exists to bash the decades old, beloved legacy characters. For the sake of, idk, talking about how fucked up Cybertronians are that they just shrug and move on when people die? Bc apparently it's some sort of sin to be numb after 4 million years of war (and war that's literally still ongoing while Slide is bitching) and just soldier on trying to get through it? God forbid that a military hierarchy fighting to keep neo-Decepticons and various other alien threats from colonizing Earth be run like a military in which orders have to be followed, people die, but you still have to keep fighting anyways? Idefk man I just hate Slide so much she's basically the embodiment of all of the bad aspects of Barber's writing personified.

10. Most disliked arc? Why?

Mutineers arc in MTMTE/LL. I feel like (whether due to early cancellation and/or JRO wasting time on too many side plots to give it its full depth), I dislike how the mutineers were basically boiled down to pure evil morons who are the most disgusting, despicable evil ever and the only reason the mutiny had Good Guys (TM) in it was because they were horribly misled and not because, you know, the mutiny was 100% a valid thing to have happened as retaliation against Rodimus and Megatron's captaincy.

Like, I'm not opposed to the idea of Getaway and his cronies being assholes (I personally thought Getaway was a GREAT slow-burn, puppet master villain/anti-hero), I just dislike how the quality of their writing degraded from MTMTE to LL. Felt like they (Getaway in particular) got passed the Idiot Ball and then the actual reasons behind the mutiny were never addressed, it was kind of just "oh Getaway died horribly so we're all friends now and we forgive each other and Rodimus/Megatron will just go back to being captains now."

11. Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

You mean besides IDW Optimus because anyone who's been on my blog for like 5 seconds knows he's my biggest problematic fave skldfjskd

Uhhh I guess in the spirit of the previous question, Getaway. I feel like the fandom's hatred for him is overblown mainly bc it's a combination of Tailgate/Cyga/te fans going "HE GOT IN THE WAY OF C/YGA/TE AND ALMOST KILLED THAT PRECIOUS CINNAMON ROLL" and Rodimus or Megatron stans going "Getaway hates my fave?? But my fave is a good captain and deserves the world HE'S EVIL MY FAVORITE IS BEYOND CRITICISM OR REPROACH GETAWAY IS THE EMBODIMENT OF EVIL."

Like to me it seems as if the hate for Getaway isn't normal dislike or even people hating him because he's a well written villain. It feels weirdly like ppl really take Getaway's actions personally and hate him with the kind of passion you normally see reserved for actual real life horrible people. Or they like, see Getaway as an obstacle to [favorite character]'s happiness and not as an individual who, before the quality of his writing tanked, was actually an interesting character who maybe even had good points? It just feels like people mainly hate Getaway because he's the antagonist to more popular characters/ships and so they project their defense of their faves into virulently hating him.

13. Unpopular opinion about (Optimus)?

Honestly 90% or more of the fan content I see for Optimus is really boring/uncompelling to me, or really just comes off as out of character. It's either Optimus being reduced to an accessory to be shipped with someone (usually turned into some sort of moe cutesy uke type) or him being turned into.... idk some permutation of "feral irresponsible gremlin" or "One Of The Good Ones (TM)" or "anxiety-ridden damsel who needs to be rescued by his lover" or, in some circles, "character I project my issues with authority onto and try to frame as evil for things that aren't even evil."

Idk how to specifically describe it, it's just... a vibe? Most of the Optimus content I see doesn't actually feel like him at all. It feels like it's Optimus/Orion in name only, who got so separated from canon and distorted by fanon/flanderization/shipping/porn stereotypes that he now only vaguely resembles the character he's supposed to be.

20. What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Ahahaha I don't really go into the realm of pure ships honestly, plus this is the war criminal fandom where pretty much every character has killed people or committed crimes or is just generally scarred by war so uhhh

Idk I think Thundercracker/Melissa is a pretty hinged ship? They get along and cope surprisingly well with all the shit that happens. There's no angst or betrayals or misunderstandings or enemies, they're just very respectfully together. Sdfklsajfksd

25. How would you end (IDW1)/Would you change the ending of (IDW1)?

Honestly, I'm pretty satisfied with the ending of IDW1 on both sides of the story. On Barber's side I would've preferred if every single planet including Cybertron didn't get fucking eaten leaving them all stuck on Earth together, and I would've also kept Trypticon alive while... minimizing Slide's role, to say the least. I don't have a problem with Optimus' ending bc I actually think that Optimus' arc in Unicron is like, one of the few 1000% good things Barber wrote for him it's just. It's pure Optimus in his best form.

On JRO's side I would've cut out the last panel with the alternate Lost Light and left it ambiguous as to whether the quantum jump successfully copied the ship or not. I dislike the vibes of the canon ending that implied that everyone moving on with their lives (almost universally to new and exciting and happier places) was the "sad" ending and going on a permanent road trip is the "true, happy" ending. In the author's notes I think JRO said that he wanted to give the readers an ending that would allow them to imagine their faves continuing to go on adventures, but I think compromising a good ending to a story to appease fans is fucking stupid + fandom has never needed permission or approval from the author to write alternate, happy endings. So why ruin a poignant, melancholy ending about how endings come with new beginnings and sadness/nostalgia can be mixed with hope and happiness by going "sike lol they're all living happily ever after on their space cruise."

Also I wouldn't have randomly killed off Ratchet for no reason because like. What was that even supposed to accomplish. I'm no stranger to writing major character deaths but like. He just fucking died of disease off-screen and that was that??? Why, like what was the narrative/symbolic purpose of that besides just making the ending more sad? Maybe to emphasize how going back to Cybertron was the "bad ending" and the quantum Lost Light is the "good ending" since on the LL Ratchet is still alive? But see the paragraph above for why I don't like that.

26. Most shippable character?

The most shippable character to me is whichever character I think is the sexiest, because if I think they're sexy it makes me want to ship them with everyone. "Guards, fuck that man for me" etc etc. Lmao

#squiggle answers #long post #i put / through ship names not bc i hate them but bc #i want to try and keep them from showing up in the maintags for the ship

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bloompawz · 4 months

Text

I think I'm aroallo?

CW: sex mentions, talk about aroallo stereotypes

I think I'm aroallo. I've been identifying as aroace for a while now, but I keep saying to my girlfriend, "I feel like I might not be asexual after all." I've been saying that again and again for months. Her response is always, "You're probably not."

I don't question my aromanticism at all. It's one aspect of my identity that I'm very sure about. But my asexuality, on the other hand... I don't think that I'm really ace. I feel like I've been clinging to the asexual label because of the assumptions people make about aroallos. Being aroace is one thing, but being aroallo is a lot harder for me to accept.

People tend to assume that aroallos are always hypersexual, or always loveless, or always prioritize sex above all else when it comes to their relationships with people. And all of those things are valid experiences, but they don't apply to me personally.

I've been trying to put it into words... People think that a lack of romantic attraction necessitates an amplified sexual attraction. Like just because I'm aro, I must be "more sexual" than other allosexual people. It seems like people think sexuality has to be "balanced out" with romance. But I'm not particularly sexual; I'm just not ace.

Tangentially related, this idea that "no romantic attraction = amplified sexual attraction" also seemed really prevalent in SAM discourse a while back. One of the big arguments people used against romantic orientation labels was that they were "oversexualizing" sexuality labels or "reducing everything to sex" by separating the romantic aspect from the sexual aspect.

I'm talking about the people who would say shit like, "Why would you call yourself biromantic instead of bisexual? Are you implying that bisexual people only care about sex?" when they saw a biromantic ace. That sort of "logic."

And the implication with that argument is, if the tables were turned (i.e. they were bisexual and aromantic), it would be appalling to them. And it was especially paired with the assumption that sex - romance = oversexualized, in whatever way "oversexualized" may be defined. Lots of sex negativity mixed in with the discourse.

On another note, I've voiced my disdain for the Attraction Layer Cake elsewhere before. There are a lot of problems with it, but I'm going to focus on the "Crimson" part specifically: the crimson layer is the only option if you're aromantic without being asexual. That and "Red" I suppose, but the red layer could describe any allosexual orientation, whether aromantic or not.

Crimson is labeled as aromantic sexuality, which is a problem in and of itself. It should say aromantic allosexuality. But that's not the part I take the most issue with. I hate the description.

"The purpose of relationships is primarily sexuality. Romance is not specifically desired."

Again, there's nothing wrong with prioritizing or emphasizing sexuality. But that's not an inherent aspect of being aroallo, and it doesn't describe me personally. The primary purpose of my relationships is emotional connection. Sex is just a cool thing that I may or may not do with people.

Also, "relationships" is vague. Does it mean relationships in general, regardless of whether they're romantic, platonic, etc? In that case, that's a huge generalization of the many types of relationships aroallos may have.

Or does it specifically refer to romantic relationships? In that case, that's also a huge generalization, because it assumes aroallos will have romantic partners, and it implies that it's only okay to have sex with people if you're also romantically involved.

Aromantic people also have to deal with a lot of explicitly negative stereotypes. Manipulative, abusive, cruel. I feel like these assumptions get amplified when you're aroallo specifically. A lot of people think that explicitly wanting sex, without explicitly wanting romance, automatically makes you a horrible person. I'm too exhausted to even delve into these stereotypes.

All I'll say is, there's nothing wrong with wanting sex, and there's nothing wrong with having no desire for romance. Sexual attraction doesn't need to be "justified" via romantic attraction, and sex doesn't need to be "justified" via romance. As long as everyone is consenting and upfront with their intentions, whose business is it anyways?

I'm not 100% sure if I'm allosexual. But after months of saying, "I don't think I'm asexual after all," I think it's safe to say that I'm not aroace. Maybe I'm greysexual at most, but eh. Whether I'm allosexual or ace-spec, there's one thing I'm certain of: I'm more aro than I am ace, if I'm even ace-spec at all.

I'm sitting here sort of feeling... Out of place. Like, everywhere. I'm a romance-indifferent aroallo, who isn't heavily sexual, but still enjoys sex. It's sort of isolating, I guess. It would be reassuring to see more people with similar experiences.

Slightly unrelated, but my primary special interest is Littlest Pet Shop, and I love putting these little guys on pride flags. So, here's the aroallo flag with a bunny on it. Makes me happy despite all the confusion and conflicted feelings

#lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #aromantic #aro #aromanticism #aromanticity #aromantic spectrum #arospec #aroallo #alloaro #aromantic allosexual #allosexual aromantic #aromantic zedsexual #zedsexual aromantic #not sure if I articulated myself well but whatever #this took hours to type and the sun isn't even up yet #a healthy sleep schedule? what's that?

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sora-of-uranus · 5 months

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Another issue with S3 is they really could've explored personal stories more (Eddie's relationship with his dad which is disregarded after Sweet briefly expels the Sibunas, and the descendants plot). Instead, they over relied on the romance which caused problems for new characters (KT being considered an obstacle for Peddie) and old ones (Patricia being jealous the entire season and Fabian not having a plot due to a lack of a romantic partner and being paired with Mara at the last minute).

I have no idea how long this has been waiting for me to read cuss I never check my inbox but OMG THIS THIS THIS! especially the relying on romance. So often (even before season 3) romance was used as a driving force for the narative or character arcs and whilst thats great...it gets boring. It's quite a large main cast with side characters being introduced every season. There isn't realllly enough school romance plots that can fit in WITH the mysteries for every character to constantly have this romance plot line. But as you said with Fabian, the writers also don't know what to do with a character once they remove that romantic partner. I think it's espeically hard for the writers to continue writing a compelling and strong character arc once the person is in a relationship. Patrica I think is the best example of this character growth stunting because in season 1 she didn't really have a massive romance arc like in other seasons. her growth happened through her platonic love for Joy sure, and eventually learning to be friends with the sibunas and realising that she CAN trust other people to help her. But no massive romantic love stories. Then eddie comes and as much as I LOVE them her own character growth was pushed back to focus on the romance. and that focus on her growth just never returned in a satisfying way for me. But also your definitly right with Eddies relationship with his dad it was such a complex and tricky relationship that seemed to only cause problems when the narative needed it to. Honestly thats how a lot of the characters negative aspects work, they are fine untill the narative NEEDS them not to be. And no this isn't me trying to say "characters need to constantly be suffering from past issues with no growth" even though as I'm reading it back it kinda sounds like I am, but certain things just don't randomly go away before returning at the same extreme level as when it was before. If they had worked through Eddies relationship with his dad and explored it before them finding a working solution, fantastic, but then they don't need to bring it back up UNLESS something new happens that shifts the peace from before. Imagine if Nina never got over her home sickness but it only popped up every 5 episode. That would feel strange and weird. I would like to add that this isn't me saying that season 3 is awful and that the first two seasons don't also have these issues, but its more prevelant in season 3 and there was less 'intresting 'special' moments to make up for it.

#house of anubis #patricia williamson #fabian rutter #eddie miller #nina martin #I will say an example of Romance being done HORRIFICALLY and RUINING character narative is the whole Mara and Mick romance thing....no.#that just never was going to work and felt like it was written to SPITE the characters #cuss we're meant to like Mara in the next seasons but look at what she JUST did #and Mick is just kinda there in the plot that its hard to sympathise with him cuss we arn't show WHAT to sympathise with #so like the whole show is a mess not just season 3

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fanaticsnail · 5 months

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Hi, just a rando who saw the blacklisting tags post and just wanted to share smth neat about myself: I don't like fics that are shipping content at all? :0 I'm not a very romantic person, so, that genre just isn't interesting to me. Because of this I unfortunately have avoided all fanfic due to lack of um.. understanding if there even is a tag/system of terms that would mean no shipping? from how I understand fic, that's kinda how you find the fics at all in the first place via the shipping tag? (i know no shipping fanfics exist though, and even tried to encourage myself to write some years ago but genuinely felt like there's such a minority of people who would care, I never bothered) I just found it interesting that your question to Moon about what fic she enjoys seemed to translate exclusively (to me) to asking what shipping content she likes. While I could be misunderstanding the meaning on that one, I just wanted to let you know that there's all kinds of reasons why x reader wouldn't be someone's cup of tea, and in my case it's that I don't read fanfic at all due to avoiding romantic content in general! have a great day, and if there IS a tag for no shipping in fics I'd love to actually learn what it is

My Dear, my Darling; I completely understand.

On Ao3, there's the "/" option to tag as platonic (at least I think that's the way you're meant to use it). If the romance is between OP character and the reader, it is tagged "x reader". For example: if the fic describes the romantic relationship between Sanji and a reader: "Sanji x reader" is tagged. If there is an underlying rapport relationship that the reader character has with Luffy: their bond should be tagged as "Luffy / Reader".

I am yet to see the tag used here, and I have no idea if I should start tagging "/ reader" or not for the majority of my fics. I also would like to add, if romance is not your flavour of fic: that is absolutely fine! Reading romance is not everyone's yum.

To quietly add: I have desired to write concepts I have had vivid nightmarish and dark dreams about: sci-fi, adventure horror, thriller and gore are the main elements of those ones. All original works, characters and concepts - but I know it is not something everyone will enjoy reading. It's not fandom, and I have built this page around the One-Piece fandom. I am a Snail; I write romance, comradery and rapport here. The only thoughts I write that are an outlet for non-romance and friendship are interacting within the plot with background OCs and characters.

In saying all that; if there is a request you'd desire to be made for character x character rapport and interaction, or reader x character that you would like to read - your asks are welcome here! If you request this type of fic, I think if you request "Character x Platonic!Reader" would be a way to do it?

I adore writing shenanigans. It is one of the main reasons I play D&D - specifically for shenanigan content (I am in fact playing tonight, and I can't wait for @since-im-already-here and I to obliterate the stupid mind-flayer!)

In regards to the "people not caring" aspect: We watch One-Piece. None of those characters are together romantically! I adore them all and love watching the angst, fluff and relationships between them. That's what brought us all here in the first place!

Thank you for sharing that part of yourself with me, anon. I am so glad you felt able to reach out and educate me, truly. I mean it with the biggest heart that ever did belong to a such a Snail.

#one piece #opla #opla fic #x reader #one piece live action #anon ask #Thank you for reaching out #I adore learning more about this fandom and fic preference

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metalforhands · 2 years

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this probably seems like a stupid question but about that post about danse, does he really canonically fall in love with sole before blind betrayal? i never really put an official marker on when it happens but i'd like to see your take on it and also maybe what the character implications are for him and sole that you mentioned

omg hi!! it's not stupid at all! i'm more than happy to delve into danse's voice lines again. i’m in a danse mood and it's been a while >:)

fallout 4, at its core, is heavily reliant on the choices the player makes. so there are different timelines. in some timelines, sole and danse don’t meet at all. in some timelines, danse’s relationship with sole is strictly platonic. in some timelines (ie the timelines where sole fails their charisma checks when flirting with danse) he does not show signs of liking sole early on. you get my point. it’s worth noting this is how it works with the other romanceable companions as well.

however, if you pass all of those charisma checks for the romance options, he does (imo) show signs of being flustered and having feelings for sole before blind betrayal. for the rest of this post, i will be talking about this specific timeline.

and of course, this is just my own opinion, and it has been a while since i’ve typed up fo4 meta, so i very well may be missing something. with that in mind, onwards!

let’s talk canon first. here’s some lines from his second affinity conversation.

{player flirted with you unexpectedly (positive response) / Surprised} I... I didn't know you felt that strongly about our... well, about us.

[player had just flirted with you / Apologetic} I'm sorry if I seem... confused. You've certainly given me something to think about.

danse’s feelings more than likely kick off around here. this conversation is interesting - for context, it’s the one about cutler. it’s at this point that danse finally opens up to someone, and admits that he considers sole to be as close to him as cutler was. so, when sole flirts with him, danse (who does respond positively) becomes flustered, and mentions that it’s “something to think about”.

knowing him, he probably did, in fact, Think About It.

then his third affinity conversation:

{Flirting} It's comforting to know that I can speak to you as more than just your commanding officer.

the above is said independent of sole flirting with him, and it does have the “flirting” marker in the files. just something interesting worth mentioning. okay, continuing on.

{Surprised the Player has flirted with you / Surprised} I.. I don't know. I never thought you'd ask me something like that.

{Surprised the Player has flirted with you / Surprised} It would depend... on the circumstances, but I suppose we'll just have to see what happens when the time comes.

danse acting shocked sole is showing interest in him is a reoccurring trend we’ll be seeing often. it’s a self worth thing. danse’s lack of self worth is something that seeps into every aspect of his character, and it only worsens when he finds out he’s a synth. but that’s besides the point.

for context, this is the conversation about danse’s lack of confidence in his abilities, and the situation involving haylen. sole is asking if he’d be willing to hold them if they ever needed it.

and danse does try to flirt back here. in his uh. own special way.

i think danse being noticeably flustered in these conversations, and even entertaining any of this to begin with, is evidence enough that he’s like. pretty into sole before blind betrayal. danse isn’t a flirt. he isn’t a philanderer. he takes his role in the brotherhood seriously. it’s like, his whole sense of purpose. he would quickly shut down anything that could jeopardize that... like, for instance, a romantic relationship with his subordinate.

like, even during his romanced post blind betrayal dialogue, he says this:

We can't let our relationship interfere with our work. It just wouldn't be right.

if these are his thoughts when they’re dating, and not even in the bos together anymore, imagine how he’d feel when he was still their co?

and like, danse is danse. he’s not very expressive or well spoken about his feelings. so again, the fact that danse of all people is acting flustered and entertaining anything (ie not shutting down sole’s flirting) pre blind betrayal says a lot.

now onto my own thoughts.

i really like how the game sets this up. danse doesn’t sponsor sole with any ulterior, romantic motives. he genuinely believes in their abilities as a soldier. it’s only until they become close friends that he starts showing signs of liking them.

and this is why sole not being able to romance danse until after blind betrayal, and after he is no longer their commanding officer, is very notable to me as well. i feel if they confessed to him before blind betrayal, he would.. probably turn them down, even if he had feelings for them. that’s just the kind of guy he is. it’s not really the best time, and i feel he wouldn’t want that kind of inappropriate power imbalance. if blind betrayal never happened, i feel he would wait until they were of equal rank, or until the bos’ job in the commonwealth was finished.

additionally, sole not being able to romance danse also implies they’re not willing to make a serious move outside of harmless flirting. not until danse is out of the bos, anyways. so take that as you will.

now onto post blind betrayal thoughts.

i feel that, in this timeline, while danse did have feelings for sole during blind betrayal, he was also literally suicidal. it was not the time to be thinking about romance; he had more... pressing issues at hand. if anything, i feel like his feelings would only strengthen his self loathing at this point.

this is semi confirmed during his final affinity conversation:

{feelings confused / Surprised} Are you saying you're... in love with me?

{feelings confused / Puzzled} This doesn't make any sense. After everything the Brotherhood taught you, how could you be in love with... well, a machine?

Player Default: You're not a machine, Danse. In fact, you're more human than most people could ever hope to be.

as mentioned by the little note for his voice actor, danse is very, very confused post blind betrayal. he’s all but given up on the thought of sole having any interest in him, let alone interest in being his friend. so when sole outright confesses their feelings, he is baffled.

further supported in another one of his romanced lowered affinity conversations:

{Concerned} When you revealed how you felt about me, I have to admit... I was caught off guard.

{Concerned} Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I wasn't pleased to hear it. I just never had anyone profess their feelings towards me that way.

so in conclusion, i feel there is evidence for danse having feelings for sole before blind betrayal, and i feel blind betrayal itself was so life shattering and insane that it kinda threw a bomb at their whole situation.

my own personal way of handling danse post blind betrayal is waiting a bit before romancing him. i feel danse needs some time before entering a relationship, and i feel the dynamic between him and sole at this point would just be really angsty mutual pining LMFAO.

but yeah! i hope this was fun to read at least, because i had a lot of fun writing it! thank you again for the ask and feel free to ask for clarification on any of this! danse post blind betrayal is a whole other essay of its own, so i tried to stick to pre blind betrayal! ;D

#fo4 #paladin danse #meta #asks #I HOPE YOU LIKE AN ESSAY I'M SORRY #BUT YEAH #this is also why i hc danse as demisexual #his feelings for sole only surface once an emotional bond is established #and this is very obviously his first relationship #so interesting stuff me thinks #in terms of 'love' before bb... i think that's a very broad term. but my demi hc does come into play here.#i think he had very serious feelings for sole pre bb as he does not strike me as the type to have casual crushes #nor the type to entertain casual crushes

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the-raging-tempest · 1 month

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OC nsfw asks - for Lariel 5 and 9? and for Zrise 22 and 23?

Thank you for the ask and the recommendation for the ask games Dujour! Greatly appreciated. Some of these really made me think and I hope I put them into words. Haha 💕

Do they have any really out-of-left-field kinks/fantasies? Maybe even something that they wouldn’t necessarily want to act on but have still thought about?

HMMM Lariel’s a tough egg when it comes to these questions. Mostly because she just lacks experience. I think she has very convoluted fantasies. She would care about the ‘set up’ more than the actual act of it. In that sense. She’s read a lot of romance novels so her fantasies that she’d not really ask for (let alone know how to) would be some kind of scenario. So I think mostly out of left field would be just how ridiculous the role play situations she’d imagine might get. Like the imagined love interest for her ‘character’ in her mind. She’d make some forbidden romance backstory for both of them. HAHAH Hope this makes sense.

What’s their favorite way to get in the mood? How do they set the mood?

I think she’d very much the kind of person who is caught off guard by it. I think she spends so much time kind of denying some parts of herself that she doesn’t try to induce those feelings. But easy ways I think for her is romance novels or ‘prepping’. Almost like a ‘treat yourself’. Nice self care for getting ready. Nice lotion or nice bath. She’s very much a puts a lot of effort into a romantic night if she knows it’s going to happen.

Favorite thing/part about sex—intimacy, role-playing, etc.

For a Zrise who worships his Goddess his favorite part of sex is a very multifaceted answer I’ll do my best to put into words.

It’s an aspect of his life he can feel he can control to a certain extent. A place he feels useful. Usually Zrise feels most comfortable in his skin when he is ‘serving some purpose’. Where his goals feel ‘easy’ and ‘uncomplicated’ to accomplish. Almost all of the sex he has is not emotionally intimate. He has a bit of an ego about sex because it’s one of the few things he feels he ‘does well’. (Along with violence) His sexual gratification actually more so coming from the satisfaction of indulging in another person’s wants. Though what makes someone ‘good at sex’ (lmao) is up to debate, most people who seek him out want what he can provide.

There’s also a part of him that enjoys the more ‘hidden’ aspect of a person. That is the closest to intimacy he gets usually. His own being something he closely guards. Usually he just reflects what others show him. When people come to him wanting something in particular he wants to be able to use it against them should he wish. He likes to use sex as a way to learn information. But that also comes from his usual position of someone who uses sex as a tool. He’s heard some interesting confessions in the throes of passion.

In these answers I’m talking more about the ‘default’ version of himself. Like where he ‘starts’ as a character when most would ‘meet’ him. It’s when he isn’t yet offering any vulnerability.

Least favorite thing/part about sex—cleanup, setup, etc.

Hah!! Honestly. It’s the post sex behavior some people exhibit. He’s very much a ‘don’t touch me’ once the experience is over kind of guy. A fact I haven’t revealed is he isn’t the biggest fan of kissing whomever he’s hooking up with. To him that feels like the worst/most gross part of sex when someone wants it. It feels emotionally clingy. He’ll do things to avoid it.

As much as some people might insist they can remain platonic or non-romantic in a purely sexual relationship. That’s not as often the case. He’s often a one night stand guy because having a repeat partner increases the likelihood of messy feelings slipping in. And that once he slams the iron wall down of ‘nothing more than sex will happen between us’ people don’t always respond well to it. But he doesn’t often stick around in the same place long enough that it comes back to bite him too badly.

#oc: lariel #oc: zrise #(nsfw)#ask game answers #ask game #hopefully I understood these #I’m a little brain dead lmao #sometimes it’s so hard to articulate what I’m thinking so I hope this is legible #I’m going to try and type the answers for tomorrow and answer them tomorrow #try to sleep but we will see how well that goes for me #this isn’t talking about how much he likes kissie when he IS emotionally attached

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masonscig · 1 year

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what didnt you like about m’s route? to me this book’s plot was weaker than the other ones but i still really enjoyed a and m’s romances

so, disclaimer, please! do not take any of my opinions are yours being wrong! if i say i don't like something, you're not wrong for finding personal enjoyment in it! i'm being so genuine when i say i hope you had a great experience playing b3 <3

these are fresh out the oven of my mushy fucking brain bc i spent a long time reading it yesterday and passed out for 11 hrs after pushing end book

another disclaimer, i didn't read all the routes (still haven't)! it'll take me a while to get through it, so this is solely m opinions + opinions on the general plot

so, some of it is personal opinions because i have an idea for how i want my oc's relationship with mason to go, and some of it is how i feel about the route and how some parts don't quite fit m's route that well (imo). i've discussed this in depth with a few m-loving friends of mine and we agreed on some aspects that i'll lay out below:

firstly, i think that some of the romantic moments don't flow with the story – they feel out of place because the plot is so heavy (kidnapping! trafficking! it's a fucking lot)! the options to have sex are so jarring because isn't the mc traumatized? from both book 1 and 2, and the current situation they're in with kidnappings that have terrorized the community? the mc still hasn't had time to unpack a lot of their feelings and resolve issues that have just Been There For Multiple Books Now.

the romance should've taken a backseat overall imo, because both mc and m are dealing with so many heavy feelings. and the romance is there! like, a big theme with m is physicality without emotionality and the mc being the first time they've thought about more. both mc and m should've been afforded the time and the opportunity to work it out on their own AND together! there's so much they could've worked through and discussed! like... having discussions and healing is romantic relationship development yk?

a huge issue too for me is the very very very very VERY jarring and out of left field moment from m a the auction where m makes a very out of place sex joke. m would absolutely never ever ever respond that way. you're telling me m has spent the entire book internally battling feelings they don't understand, and freaking out over the mere idea of the mc being taken away from them, and their worst fear is coming true, bc the mc is literally trapped – and? they're going to make a crude sex joke? this is the ro that was quite literally, chapters before, freaking out when the ceiling fell on the mc and no questions asked, sensory nightmare be damed, stood inside the shower and platonically held onto the mc so that they could wash off? and you're telling me he's going to make a joke? it's so out of character it hurts.

i'm a huge fan of hurt/comfort, but the sex scene at the end is so misplaced – you'd think that this would've been the book where mc just. doesn't get the chance to sleep with m because they're having so many complicated feelings – and they're terrified of losing mc! it would've been so much more true to m's character that way i think. i really truly feel like this book, m has grown so much already that even if they can't recognize what their feelings exactly are, they can recognize that stepping back is a good choice for both m and the detective.

tonally, a lot of the romance is just off – i know that romance can be lighthearted (we've seen it in canon), but book 3 is just not! so many things are happening, and lots of those things are difficult for mc to process emotionally – especially the guilt that mc can feel over "being the reason kids are being kidnapped". i feel like a lot of what m-lovers enjoy about their route is the non-forced romantic aspects. there's so much that m does that makes my heart flutter without them being intentional about it – and i feel like in some places this book was lacking a lot of that unintentional stuff i've loved. and the intentional stuff... at times felt very out of place.

and also, i think that a lot of what i envision for sofía and mason just doesn't quite mesh as well as i'd want it to! i thought i had a few more points here, but honestly my brain is still mush and this is a long response and i think my brain is forcing me to tap out LMAO (these aren't all my thoughts, just a few i've been mulling over and discussing w friends today) maybe if you ask me again later i'll flesh that out more

it's less about what m does tbh for me it's more about the developmental moments feeling more forced, and way less organic than the ones in book 1 and 2 – and early book 3! for the record, there's so much i love about m's route – i just think some of it could've been better.

#asks #again – don't let my opinions sway you and i don't dislike m's route – just aspects of it #i very much loved the antique shop date. and the shower scene. and the research scene (FAV)#and a lot of m's introspection or conversations w/ ub about the det. was great too!#overall i did like it!#don't snipe me for this ask !!!! my anon will stay on and i WILL block you if you're mean to me #and i will make fun of you privately to my friends <3 #twc book 3 #twc book 3 spoilers #twc spoilers

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thunder-pride · 1 year

Text

Although aromanticism and asexuality are distinct orientations, they are similar in that both describe a lack of attraction and are both spectra with many flavours.

Aromantic people (or aro) experience a lack of romantic attraction in some way and asexual people (or ace) experience a lack of sexual attraction. Some people are aroace, while others are aromantic while experiencing sexual attraction, while others are asexual and still experience romantic attraction.

Some common varieties on the aro and ace spectra are listed below. In each case the description applies to romantic attraction for arospec and to sexual attraction for aspec.

Demi- : Someone who experiences attraction only once an emotional connection with another person is established.

Gray- : Someone who rarely experiences attraction

Litho- : Someone who may experience attraction but is either uncomfortable with its reciprocation or or loses their attraction if it is reciprocated

Cupio- : Someone who doesn’t experience attraction but still desires a relationship which incorporates this aspect

-flux/-fluid : Someone whose attraction fluctuates over time

Varieties are often known as “micro-labels” and are not used by everyone.

Ace and aro people also have varying levels of comfort with sex and romance itself. This is most commonly categorised into three broad groups:

(romance/sex) -favourable

(romance/sex) -indifferent

(romance/sex) -repulsion

These are distinct from the concepts of sex-positivity and sex-negativity, which are social and cultural perspectives that reflect on a wide range of sentiments like attitudes towards sex work or sex education. See more here.

Queerplatonic Relationships (QPRs)

QPRs are typically a deeply commited platonic relationship which typically involves at least one aro or ace partner, but can form between people of any romantic and sexual orientation. They can include physical intimacy, sharing assets and resources, even marriage if both partners want legal recognition of the relationship. QPRs are an important part of aro and ace culture and worth diving into to learn more about when writing an aro character. That being said, not all aro people have or want to be a part of a QPR so this is not a requirement.

Three Dos and Don’ts

…celebrate the relationships the character chooses to form

…consider how the character chooses to showcase affection and love

…think about how the character’s experience is shaped by their lack of attraction

DON’T

…try to “fix” the character by giving them a partner contrary to their attraction and desires

…imply that platonic relationships are “less than” romantic relationships

…conflate sex-negative attitudes and sex-repulsion

Helpful links for further reading!

[Writing Ace and Aro Characters With Confidence] by J R Hart; 6-8 min reading time

[Going Over the Rainbow: Aromantic] by Bran Lindy Ayres; 3-5 min reading time

[Queerplatonic Relationships: A New Term for an Old Custom] by Stefani Goerlich for Psychology Today; 3-4 min reading time

And just for fun…

[50+ amazing asexual and aromantic reads for A-spec August] compiled by Ellie and Imi of Beyond a Bookshelf; 17-22 min reading time

#thunderpride info

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stevetonyweekly · 2 years

Text

SteveTony Weekly - October 30th

Welcome back! I didn’t read as much as I wanted this week, but there’s some delicious stories here.

***Marks my recent favorites

~*~

my name is steve by starksnack

Tony wrongly assumes that Steve likes Bucky.

the untamed fox by meidui

“I said I got clothes for you,” Tony says, his voice soft and a little challenging, as if loving Steve was a rebellion, now, an act of defiance, if only because Steve didn’t think he would.

Soft Tony and scared Steve and it’s just--everything.

Everything You Said I Ever by blue_jack

The first time Tony asks him out, Steve is . . . . well, appalled is as good a word as any.

Adorably goofy which is why I love it.

In Which Steve Is Jealous But Claims Not To Be by misbehavingvigilante

Things are complicated with Tony.

Steve knows he’s not always the easiest person to get along with so maybe some of that tension is because of him, or at least he admits that on his more charitable days. They don’t really argue all that much, which should mean that their relationship has no complications, but somehow it does regardless.

Somehow, Thor doesn’t seem to have the same problems with Tony.

The Billionaire and the Army Captain by Neverever

Facing finanical ruin and needing to care for his sick daughter, Steve Rogers agrees to marry Tony Stark, who needs to get married by his 30th birthday to inherit. It's just a job for Steve until he starts to fall for the enigmatic billionaire.

Very Harlequin romance-esque and very lovely.

Platonic Cuddling (In Which Tony Is A Pillow) by tarialdarion

Dating Tony would be like…dating my pillow.” Steve raised an eyebrow. “Fine, maybe that wasn’t the best analogy but Steve, there’s no attraction there. For fuck’s sake, he looks at you like he has hearts in his eyes.”

Tony is a pillow and Steve is sad.

With Words Other Than These by RurouniHime

The way Steve’s beating that bag, though—Tony traces the cadence as well as the lines of Steve’s body, and wonders if he might not need to know about the mission after all. There’s a lot of tension knotted in Steve’s shoulders, a frenzy to each punch. The precision lacks. Maybe Steve’s just getting started, and if that’s the case, Tony could be here a long, long while.

Tony taking care of Steve and what’s driving Steve’s rage is just--so painful and beautiful.

amore mio by halfasgoodatanything

tony is touchy and affectionate with others, and steve wants him to just love him. and love him in the way he loves him.

Silly jealous Steve and sweet, affectionate Tony.

Unburied by attenuata

Steve and Tony meet up after a long time away from each other. Tony has been repressing all his feelings and when he sees some women try to hit on Steve at the bar they're at, he can't control his jealousy. Will he confess his attraction to Steve or just be a dick?

I want you to see by dirigibleplumbing, fundamentalBlue

Steve leans over, rustling the sheets and dislodging Tony’s leg, and plants a gentle kiss on Tony’s lips.

“Do we have to keep this a secret then?”

Steve sighs, and gets up from the bed. Tony is immediately sorry he said anything at all, because he knows the reasons why they haven’t said anything, and he agreed. He agreed—

But, sometimes.

I’m pretty picky about HYDRA!Cap because it can be very triggering and I prefer a Steve who is dark but soft with Tony. This one was very well done though--I liked the way everything played out.

****A Fire to be Kindled by drifloon

It makes perfect sense, of course. The serum gave Steve the perfect body, so why wouldn’t it also give him the perfect mind? In the quietness of his own mind, Tony can admit he’s a little stung Steve didn’t tell him, but he’s not really surprised.

(Or: the one where Steve is smarter than Tony, and neither of them deal well.)

I looooooove smart Steve, but I’ve never seen it handled like this, and I really liked that aspect of the story.

Desert Knights by copperbadge

Steve is sent to Puente Antiguo on a leadership training exercise, Tony isn't feeling too well, and aliens might be invading.

MORE TINY STEVE! I thought I’d read this piece of the series, but apparently I hadn’t, and I really enjoyed the way they handled IM2

Living In the Shadow by psychick

Stark men are Dominants. Period. It's been that way for a century, and Tony learned the hard way not to rock the boat.

Too bad no one thought to tell Steve Rogers that.

The worldbuilding is so lovely in this.

Adopt by greenteeth

Steve's life is the same as usual. He goes to work, fights super villains, banters with other Avengers and goes home to an empty apartment. Until the son of an old friend shows up asking for help, well sex first, then help. Suddenly Steve is married, fighting super villains, worrying what Obadiah Stane and coming home to Tony most nights of the week.

I really love Steve taking care of Tony especially when he’s clearly in love, and saying it’s for other Reasons.

And Let Me Kiss You by allourheroes

The picture is in the paper, big and bold and in everyone’s face.

Iron Man. Captain America. In suits and locking lips under a white arch, an officiant behind them.

It's official, then: The world has gone crazy.

my boy was a montage by meidui

Tony has always been curious. He grows up with a million questions about Steve Rogers and has a million more when he meets him for the first time.

I love how soft this is.

#stevetony weekly #stony #stony fic #stevetony fic #fic rec #rec list #Iron Man #captain america #Steve Rogers #tony stark

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