#gender is a nonexistent thing and everyone can be who they are

[prettyboysdontlookatexplosions]

sorry to be on this again. but. without weighing in on the corset question specifically. this logic is bad. i it’s like documented at this point that wearing high heels constantly can cause permanent damage to your body and this has not yet so much as dented their market share, purchased regularly by the vast majority of women. i need everyone on earth who thinks like this to do some reflecting on why they think it is so easy for women to just think their way out of patriarchy, why they think it is so obvious for women to just decide to stop doing the things their entire society is communicate indicate Woman Behaviors, why they assume the calculation of personal safety vs. following social mores is so easy and obvious. maybe also reflect on whether being legally a second class citizen in a myriad of ways might have any impact on the day to day decision-making part of your psyche. also idk maybe consider why you see “women historically have been socially and materially punished for not following social mores [like to be fair most people but also the gender of it all DOES matter]” and hear “women are dumb(?) tools(???) of the patriarchy.” like i actually don’t look at a woman who is a second-class citizen if the word citizen is even worth applying here whose opportunities for any kind of independence are severely curtailed to nonexistent who is doing what women do as they get by as a dumb tool of the patriarchy. do you?

#i know it really is as simple as #no one wants to admit they cannot cleanly separate some inner ‘self’ from things internalized from a toxic milieu #and many people react to the discomfort of this #by getting mad about any idea suggests they are not free autonomous agents following their pure needs and desires #but it’s true of me and it’s true of you yes you person reading this now and it’s true of everyone on earth #no one is capable of fully discerning for a fact what they want because they really want it #vs. what they’ve been trained to want #this is less and less about corsets the more i type and it was never really about corsets

[queerism1969]

Medical stuff I wish cisgender people knew

Medical transition does not make someone a man or a woman. A trans woman is a woman, and a trans man is a man, regardless of what medical treatment they have or have not had. Medical treatment just makes life a hell of a lot easier for a lot of people

It is not true that 40% of trans people commit suicide. The infamous 40% statistic refers specifically to rates of suicide attempts which occur before transition. Most of these attempts fail and the person survives.

Transition vastly reduces risk of suicide attempts from 40% down to around the national average, while dramatically improving mental health, social functionality, and quality of life for those who need it.

Being trans is not classified as a mental illness by either the American Psychological Association or the World Health Organization. Gender dysphoria (in the DSM) or incongruence (in the ICD) is recognized by both as a medical condition, and transition is the only treatment recognized as effective and appropriate medical response to this condition

When able to transition young, with access to appropriate medical care, and spared abuse and discrimination, trans people are as psychologically healthy as the general public

Transition-related medical treatment is not new or experimental; it has existed for over a century

Transition-related medical care is recognized as necessary, frequently life saving medical treatment by every major US and world medical authority

Transition is the only treatment for dysphoria that has proven to be effective. Attempts to "cure" trans people, alleviating dysphoria by changing the patient victims' gender identity to match their appearance at birth (aka "conversion therapy" or "gender identity change efforts"), are such utterly worthless and actively destructive train wrecks that this "therapy" is condemned as pseudo-scientific abuse by all major medical authorities

Transition is a very individual process; not everyone needs or wants the same things

"Regret" rates among trans surgical patients are vanishingly rare, consistently found to be about 1% and falling. This 1% includes people who are very happy they transitioned, and often are still glad they got reconstructive surgery, but regret only that medical error or shitty luck led to sub-optimal surgical results. That's a risk in any medical treatment, and a success rate of about 99% is astonishingly good. And only about 6% of trans people have had reconstructive surgery, so rates of surgical regret among trans people as a whole are about 0.06%.

Transition "regret" is vanishingly rare. Of everyone who starts even the preliminary steps of transition, like trying a new name or pronouns socially, only about 0.4% eventually realize it is not right for them (see p108-111). Most realize this soon after starting transition, when physical changes are minimal or nonexistent. Many do not regret exploring transition as an option, even if ultimately it wasn't what they needed.

Hormone therapy is pretty cheap, is generally the first line of treatment most trans people get, and dramatically impacts one's appearance

Most trans people socially transition long before they get reconstructive genital surgery, if they ever get it at all. Not everyone needs or wants surgery, and even those who do need it are often unable to afford it. Genital surgery for trans women costs tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. Surgery for trans men can cost between tens of thousands to over $100k, depending on the procedure one is getting.

25 US states currently have laws prohibiting health insurance companies from having "trans exclusion" policies, where they categorically refuse to cover medically necessary transition-related treatment. This means that a small but growing number of people are able to get treatment, including surgery, covered by insurance

When a child or adolescent transitions that does not mean they are being rushed into irreversible surgery

Transition for predolescent children is 100% social; changing hair, clothes, name, pronouns, and/or the gender they are recognized as by their family and community. No medical treatment is necessary or provided before the start of puberty

The first line of medical care for trans adolescence is puberty-delaying treatment. It is gentle, fully reversible, and has been used for decades to delay puberty in kids who would otherwise have started it too young. It does nothing but buy time, and has no long term effects

Transition-related hormone supplements do not cause serious long term health problems

Reconstructive genital surgery for both trans women and trans men can provide excellent results

#gender equality #gender roles #gender bender #genderqueer #gender #gender stuff #queer stuff #trans stuff #pronouns #trans tag #thepinprick #pride #trans #pin #lgbt pride #pride flags #lgbt #queer #gay pride #pride edit #pride icons #ace pride #lesbian pride #mogai pride

[st-armand]

Across Lands and Seas

( Reposted from @armands-sanctum ) Summary: Headcanons for Hobie Brown and Afro-Latine!Reader

Author's Notes: More like an analysis on colonization with Hobie in it im sorry.... CW: political language and ideas, mentions of white supremacy, mentions of racial hierarchies.

Masterlist

I talked a bit with ellie anon about this, and this is for them so <3

Hobie is a culturally literate man, he absorbs history like a sponge, constantly learning and engaging with new material that intrigues him about things he already knows or new information brought to him, that being said I think that Hobie is extremely culturally intelligent ESPECIALLY as a black man, there is no room for arguments about colorism, or privilege around him, and he shuts down someone with vile opinions quickly.

“Mate you don’t really know what you’re talking about yeah?”

Hobie with an Afro Latine significant other is like having a living encyclopedia, he knows so much not just from what he’s read but lived experience with people in his communities.

If you’re estranged from your culture due to the diaspora and colonization Hobie make it his personal goal to help you build a found family with the Afro Latinxs in his punk circles, taking you to festivals and markets with them, they excitedly talk about their country specific dishes, who makes the better variants of food, linguistic similarities between each other, conversations about gender expression within each country and how indigenous beliefs shaped the land and it’s people even when colonization has deemed them eradicated and nonexistent.

You know how people say “Show me your friends and it’ll show me who you are”? Hobie is that kind of person, he holds his friends in high regard and holds them to standards he knows they are capable of, his Latino friends are amazing, they hold no judgement if you can’t speak Spanish, reminding you that the language was enforced on you all as a means of control and to diminish the histories of the indigenous tribes who lived in tandem with the earth, they are all gender diverse, all sorts of familial backgrounds. They sit and help you navigate your culture like a family would, and after a year of being with Hobie and adopted into his friend group, they are your family.

On certain weekends, even when Hobie is gone off being Spiderman, his friends crowd your space, or host in their own homes, spending all the light hours of the day prepping all sorts of dishes, and walking your through the preparation, the ingredients and the cooking, the place fills with laughter and chatter like a home filled with love and care.

Hobie is the kind of person who knows everyone, so don’t be shocked when you’re going about your day and by the time the evening hits your arms are filled with treats old women give you just because Hobie showed them a picture of you in passing and has been flooding them with all sorts of conversations about you, and like any good maternal figure that comes with all kinds of tasty snacks, elotes, small servings of baked chicken with rice and peas, fresh tortillas and empanadas, so much that when you do return home and Hobie sees the mountain of food you obtain all he can say is, “We better get to eatin’ huh? Can’t let ‘his all go to waste”

On one summer afternoon while downtown he sees another elderly woman he enjoys helping serving icees on the corner, he’s already scrounged up a few dollars to purchase, but she INSISTS on giving you both a large cup of lemon and mango icee just because Hobie had repaired helped repair her cart, and intimidate some cops who were pressing her about a ‘food license’ which makes a small child whine about how they wanted a cup that big, Hobie would kneel to the child and offer to buy them as many cones they want, even to their parents displeasure.

Culture has a symbiotic relationship to the land and it’s people, you can displace the people from the land but the culture doesn’t die, it simmers and brews in the belly of the people, forced to uproot themselves due to the violent nature of colonization and white supremacy, and Hobie helps you navigate these circumstances everyday like a lighthouse leads sailors through turbulent stormy waters.

Hobie shares with you information about the anti-colonial pro-indigenous movements in Latin America, reminding you that there are people fighting every day for reparations and liberation, when your blackness is seen as a contested subject amongst other Latinos especially those who are anti-black or colorist Hobie has no issue leaping up from his spot to go on the defensive.

“Black people exist everywhere bruv, that don’t make them any less Latine.”

He brings you all kinds of gifts, I like to think his favorite is jewelry, beaded ornamentation he acquired as payments for odd jobs and favors around the neighborhood, some of them are more alternative, and others are just crafts made with expert precision from their indigenous crafters, he even brings you to these shops so you can learn beadwork, or just to watch them work in a somber calmness.

As a Jamaican one of the things you two share in common is a taste for plantain, he buys plantain chips in bulk, but sometimes maybe after a day of spending time with Grandma Brown (who often complains about the youth losing touch with their roots) he’ll take you to the Caribbean market to buy sweet and ripe plantains, you spend all day frying them and eating them freshly hot and crunchy out the oil, until there isn’t much left after you’re done cooking.

On especially hard nights while you reminisce about family, Hobie will rest your head on his chest, stroking your head softly, conversing with you in hushed tones about how hard it is to be an immigrant, living in a diaspora and feeling disconnected from your traditions, or not feeling acclimated to your culture, he's quick to remind you about how you're living proof of your ancestors determination, that years of slavery and colonization couldn't keep you from being alive, that you existing is revolutionary enough, he traces your facial features, kissing your lips, your eyes your nose, reminding you that you're the product of their resilience.

My last headcanon is that Hobie goes only to queer people of color for tattoos and piercings, they are indigenous arts after all! He doesn’t get cultural tattoos but he loves showing off their work to other people of color, especially considering how white alt dominated body modification has become especially in the west. He pushes you to try and get some, he doesn’t press you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with but he does support you, and if getting a body modification can help you feel a bit closer to your roots, he’s your number 1 supporter.

#hobie brown x reader #hobie headcanons #hobie brown #hobie brown x black!reader #across the spiderverse #miguel o’hara x reader #atsv #atsv hobie

[rjalker]

people really need to stop recommending books based purely on the fact that they're "Queer representation" of some kind.

Not only does it do a disservice to the story itself, because I guarentee you the author wanted their story to be remembered for more than having "x characters" and nothing more...

...but if you're going around blithely reccomending tons of random strangers read something like the Xenogenesis trilogy by Octavia E. Butler based purely on the fact that some of the characters use it/its pronouns...

that's.

I'm sorry but that is just so negligent. That's the only word I can think to describe it. Xenogenesis is an adult science fiction story meant to be read by adults who are ready to have an incredibly serious conversation about slavery, eugenics, rape, genocide, and how consent literally cannot exist when you are a slave, and what that means for you and everyone around you.

It's not a fun casual adventure story anyone and everyone should be picking up without knowing what they're getting into. You have no idea how many people you're casually recommending this series to are victims of rape who are going to be triggered by scenes in this series, and you're not giving them any warning!

It's already bad enough for people to be flattening stories down into whether or not they have "X characters" but to not warn people about genuinely triggering content in the books you're flattening this way?? Why would you do that?

Please don't fucking do that. If you know a series deals with triggering topics then you need to warn people about that any time you recommend people read it. The Xenogenesis series requires trigger warnings for rape at the very least, and a whole lot more on top of that too, but that's the bare minimum.

Stop recommending people read things just because "characters use x pronouns in it" or "it has nonbinary characters" or "it has a lesbian in it" without any relevant warnings about triggering content it also contains.

At least the person who did this did specify that the it/its users in Xenogenesis are all aliens, but like, that's the least of things people need to be aware of before reading this trilogy.

Reccommend media by actually summarizing it. There's almost always an official summary you can find somewhere. Warn people about any topics that might be triggering that the content contains.

And, since I see this happen the most: for the love of fuck do not lie to people about Queer characters being in a series, or refuse to explain to people that the Queer characters that do exist are just the same old stereotypes we've all seen a million times, with nothing to balance them out and make them actually progressive.

That is going to accomplish nothing except alienating people who've been tricked into reading something that's not actually what they were told it was. You are not going to get anyone to enjoy a series by betraying them by lying about nonexistant or at best shallow, stereotypical, bioessentialist 'representation'.

The Animorphs does not have a single canon Queer character.

The Murderbot Diaries is just the exact same nonbinary robot stereotype that was old in the 90s, with no important human nonbinary characters at all despite there being seven whole books at this point. There are exactly 2 human characters who use neopronouns, but they're the epitome of "token characters". They appear for a combined total of maybe 10 pages, have no importance to the plot, and get shoved offscreen as quickly as possible, never to be seen again. All of the robots use it/its pronouns because they don't have genitals and Martha Wells is transmisic and loves biological essentliasm, and still very clearly equates sex with gender with pronouns. Despite the protagonist using it/its pronouns, no one ever asks anyone else for their pronouns, everyone just magically knows, because, again, biological essentialism. Also known as the exact opposite of representation for trans people.

The Xenogenesis trilogy does not have a single canon Queer character in it. All of the characters who use it/its pronouns are part of the third reproductive sex for the alien species.

Start recommending series based on what the plot is actually about, or what good things they have going for them, not just because they have characters who use XYZ pronouns or are the literal stereotype of a nonbinary robot.

#Xenogenesis #sigh #pride #LGBT #MOGAI #Queer #trans #transgender #trans characters #nonbinary characters #representation #media analysis #sorta #Queer characters #lesbian characters #gay characters #bi characters #The Murderbot Diaries #The Animorphs #Animorphs stans LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE fucking lying and telling everyone there's canon Queer characters in the series

[emotionallychargedtowel]

The idea of figuring out what the Only Friends characters smell like came up in a discussion I was having and it made me want to assign everyone a fragrance--like, the perfume/cologne kind, not just some kind of smell. What follows is not based on any close reading of the show and is full of stuff I made up but it's made-up stuff that is consistent with how I'm currently thinking about the characters (without having had the repeated viewings or having engaged in the detailed analysis some have with this show). So, you know, nothing serious. But I enjoyed writing it.

Top: Cuir Oud Padishah (Auphorie)

Top prides himself on knowing about niche things that are considered high-quality by discriminating people so of course he likes Auphorie. The fact that the label is from Southeast Asia (Malaysia, specifically) appeals to him as well. This fragrance is heavy on animalic, musky notes which I think Top would think makes him some kind of sexy badass (it doesn't), and it has a prominent oud note, and the rare and fancy aspect of oud is something that would appeal to his snobby side. Whenever someone compliments Top on this fragrance he launches into a whole spiel about Auphorie and small-batch natural perfumery that comes off as pedantic to anyone who isn't already convinced he's the second coming.

Mew: En Passant (Frederic Malle)

Mew likes that this is from a fancy, niche label that isn't that well-known, and he likes that it's a unisex scent because he likes being a little hard to pin down in that department, but his favorite thing about this fragrance is that the combination of lilac, cucumber, and springy green notes reads as really innocent while actually being low-key alluring. The sweet drydown is another aspect that is like the version of himself that Mew presents to the world. Someone on Fragrantica pointed out that "en passant" is, among other things, the name of a chess move in which a player captures an opponent's pawn while passing by them during an opening move and I think that is just so Mew.

Sand: L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme (Issey Miyake)

This is a pretty affordable fragrance but definitely an interesting enough composition to interest a guy like Sand who is a little particular when it comes to his aesthetic preferences. It's also from the 90s, like some other things Sand likes, and I can totally see him checking ebay to get a vintage bottle. In theory it hasn't been reformulated but he'd be convinced that older was better. This would also be a likely crowd pleaser across genders which is something Sand would be into. L'Eau d'Issey (the fragrance for women, which came first) was kind of an un-perfume perfume, fresh and translucent but practically nonexistent. The Pour Homme variant is more balanced thanks to some low end from woody, aromatic, and spicy notes. It's still on the subtler side, though, so he wouldn't have to worry about seeming like he's trying too hard even if he oversprayed, and you know Sand has a horror of seeming like he's trying too hard. My choice of this fragrance for Sand may be influenced by a certain singer/guitar player/songwriter person I dated in the early 2000s who was very popular with his gender of choice, had a whole collection of different-colored Converse low-tops with contrasting shoelaces, and used to spray a puff of L'Eau d'Issey Pour Homme into the air in front of him then step into the cloud because a girl taught him to do that once.

Ray: Philosykos (Diptyque)

This was Ray's mom's signature perfume. It's distinctive and sophisticated but easy to like, exactly how she wanted people to see her. She's kind of like Ray in that way--like him, she was high-maintenance but always wanted to seem just the opposite. The shift from mother to son worked out well because it's a very gender-neutral fragrance. At first Ray wore it in remembrance of his mom and then he just stopped thinking about it and just kept wearing it out of habit. He can hardly perceive it anymore after all these years but every so often he gets complimented by a stranger and it makes him get a little bit full of himself. Philosykos often gets described as the photorealistic scent of a fig tree--not the fruit, but the whole tree--and Ray likes to imagine that it's the smell of a particular tree someone would remember fondly from their family home even though he has never felt that rooted in any place ever.

Boston: Sauvage (Dior)

Boston's taste in fragrances is basic as fuck but that works really well for him, because what he needs is something that appeals to the lowest common denominator of dudes. He secretly wishes this was more overpriced because while he doesn't like to admit he's a rich kid, he has a secret love of pointlessly exclusive things. But he gets more attention with this one than he did when he wore Gucci Guilty so he keeps wearing it. He originally tried it because he saw a review by some straight guy complaining that he didn't get compliments from women on this scent, only other dudes, and he's had the same experience, but doesn't see it as a problem for obvious reasons. Boston has become inured to the smell of this stuff and barely notices it anymore, but then he barely noticed it in the first place. It was and is only a means to an end for him.

Nick: Bleu de Chanel (Chanel)

Nick's last job was at a kiosk in a mall and he used to visit the perfume section of this one department store on breaks because a hot guy worked there. The hot guy recommended this stuff, and when Nick smelled it he thought it smelled like something an extremely cool and attractive person would wear. After that he was determined to get it somehow despite its ridiculous price tag. He never got the hot guy's number but he did convince him to sell him a half-empty tester of this under the table for (relatively) cheap. He uses it sparingly to try to make it last but sometimes he sprays it on his sheets and pretends the hot guy from the perfume counter stayed over.

If you like this, you might be interested in my post on osmanthus fragrans, a.k.a. tea olive, and its significance to Utsukushii Kare.

#only friends the series #this is 90% made up #BL smells

[analog-transid]

Hi I um saw harmful in your list of uh things you could give trans tips for im tryna start a consentually abusive relationship and I'm looking for advice if you have anything bc the only thing I really know how to do is ignore him

Hi!! Yes ok I& did used to be really harmful, unintentionally, but we still somehow figured out all the tricks not realizing they were harmful or that I& was using them, so I can share tips for this!

(Also apologies to the transplurals who responded to my post, I'll make some tips and respond to you when I figure tips out😭 ALSO ALSO magemii you may not want to read this one for your own sake anshfjdj)

Okay, so first, you wanna figure out his buttons. This may take time, but if you're in a long-term conabuse thing or already know them, then great! And you wanna use those to form a sort of traumabond. Think, if he has issues being alone, you sort of need to isolate him from everyone else, and then ignore him as a punishment for upsetting you! Only to come back and apologize and promise it won't happen again, and repeat! Or if he has issues with horror medias, like us, you could ask him to watch something with you, and make it be a horror that you know will really fuck with him, but say you won't spend time with him if he doesn't watch it with you, and then after watching it, you comfort him etc etc. Basically, it's a loop of causing harm, and then apologizing and making up for it.

Coercion is also great! Say you feel bad and [thing you know he wouldn't usually agree to] is the only thing you think will really help at the time! (NOTE!! please please PLEASE have a consent check word here! Especially if it's sx!! Something notable that you can still sneak into conversation, such as calling him a specific nickname in which he responds with calling you a specific nickname to confirm. This way, you can do coercion while knowing it's okay!! Since coercion is meant to take out the actual free will of a situation, and the legality of it is basically nonexistent)

Setting up situations he'd never agree to normally in a way where he doesn't realize he's in it until it happens! I.e, one that we used (we didn't realize at the time but HIGHLY REGRET it) was 'checking if this one fanfic thing works' and escalating it from there. If he doesn't realize how it's going beyond his boundaries until it's too late to back out or already happened, then you're winning

Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss (gender neutral) start a fight! Force a miscommunication by gatekeeping important information from him. Make it clear you're mad, but don't explain why, and then go off on him. If you can get him to argue back, even better. Then you can ghost him until you know he's alseep and edit your messages to look like he was the agressor. Gaslight him into thinking so, too. Or, if it's in person, just insist you were only fighting back and matching his energy, again, gaslight until he thinks he started it.

Treat him like he doesn't know better on anything, but in a condescending way. Insist on communication, and then when he tries to communicate, sort of brush it off. But if he points out he feels it's brushed off, go back and make an excuse like "sorry I wasn't sure how to respond. I promise I am listening" (do pay attention to communication even outside of safetime, but use it to your advantage to hurt him more. If he says something is really bothersome to him, unless he safewords on it, take it and use it maliciously)

#[[asks]] #~ v ~ #shit this post got long #vetushamful #transharmful #conabuse #transharmful tips

[lobotomizedlady]

Hiiii this is the anon from like a week ago who was tired of trans women in her friend groups, one of them called me transphobic and an awful person lmfao.

This was like over me saying some mild shit about how she had a male perspective on sexuality before transitioning (she was basically saying that because she didn't live x misogynistic oppression before her transition it's wrong to say it exists, and I said that obviously she couldn't have lived it then tho). Honestly I'm split between being terrified of thought crime/peer pressure stuff and also not wanting to care anymore.

I think I have some sort of weird moral purity obsession. I've been looking at radfem content for some months and agreeing with most of it but I feel guilt about that. But also. I'm growing tired of this playing pretend. I'm just genuinely tired of having to be perfect and quiet and having my opinion dismissed because I'm not trans. Those people have NOT lived a childhood of being treated as a woman even if they say they did. I didn't even live in a conservative environment but like yeah it is markedly different.

I think that transphobia and misogyny are two different things, with a lot of overlap at times and with people sometimes experiencing both, and it's completely OK to have talks about them separately within the groups that actually live them. But. I don't want to hear what someone who has never been seen as a woman irl for a day of their life thinks about misogyny. They always defend men, always talk about how the patriarchy "hurts everyone", it's disgusting. They genuinely are starting to gross me out.

It's not like I'm transphobic I genuinely am friends irl and online with a lot of trans people who are all normal and who I respect, but like, online you have to baby trans women to not get insulted and painted as a TERF. There is no room for mistake or acknowledging they weren't always seen and treated as women, and that in and of itself is a massive difference between us (as in, cis woman for me) and them.

you're not morally corrupt for having questions about the (nonexistent) logic behind gender rhetoric, you're just a normal sane person who's capable of independent thought. that's a good thing! it means you're open to new ideas, not susceptible to brainwashing & are more capable of critical thinking than most of your peers. it's understandable that you feel guilty though, since you've been taught that acknowledging the relevancy of biological sex at all makes you an evil terf & therefore basically a nazi. you will of course be demonized for thought crimes if you choose to continue to express yourself without a filter, since extremist trans activists operate much like a cult (and I'm the daughter of a cultist so I know very well what it looks like).

I don't blame you if you want to keep your opinions to yourself in order to avoid alienating your friends, but I know it can get frustrating to be around people like that because they quite literally do not live in reality. some of my irl friends are basic libfem women who buy into the bullshit, & I don't have to tell them I disagree with them bc we almost never talk about this topic. but if your friends are actually neck deep in TRA ideology then I can see how it'd be tougher to ignore, since in my experience those types usually are incapable of shutting the hell up about it & get offended if you don't silently kneel at the alter of their metaphysical gender religion. very annoying

#I remember a friend of one of my oldest friends said smth about jkr being a terf and i was like ''whats that'' #thats how deep my crypto game is irl. my family know but thats it #asks

[chromaticramblings]

book review - ecotopia by ernest callenbach

Ecotopia, written by ernest callenbach in the 1970s, describes a world in which the land regions previously known as northern california, washington, and oregon secede from the rest of the united states and create their own nation, the nation of Ecotopia. the principles of sustainability and circular economy are central to this new nation.

here are my thoughts on some things covered in the book, i hope that this reaches someone else who's read it and we can share thoughts!

(this will include spoilers. however, the nature of the book is not a narrative, and is rather a presentation of ideas. therefore reading this post will not ruin the book for you if you choose to read it)

one of the greatest thought experiments Ecotopia undertakes is that of ideal urban planning. in that respect, the book is pretty cool! they hypothetical nation of Ecotopia describes San Francisco as a central city hub, from which spokes of public transport emerge and run to smaller city towns. these towns take the place of suburbs, which were razed during the country’s Independence / reconstruction era. (wooooo!!) public transport abounds and runs at a high speed of 30 mph, which is all you really need since the urban centers are so densely built and multi use. Between city towns are managed forests (actual forests! not monocultures) as well as natural land which has been allowed to restore itself.

people live in flexible communes that typically work together to produce something, whether that be a farming commune, fishing commune, artist communes, or business / science communes that invent things. everyone has a universal base income that is just minimal enough to reasonably get by, allowing people to pursue art or a risky startup without fear of dying. which i think is really cool! necessity breeds innovation yes but you need security too. work culture in Ecotopia is also vastly different, as the boundary between work and leisure and personal time is eroded, which may seem like a bad thing but the consequence of the UBI system means that most Ecotopians actually Like their work and choose to do it of their own free will. crazy huh.

houses are typically made of wood, which to me raised a suspicion flag, cause this is the Bay Area we’re talking about, which is Humid as Shit, and the Ecotopians have phased out paint due to it containing heavy metals. which good for them i guess but those houses are gonna rot lmfao. i took the liberty of imagining they are proofed with sealant made from the biodegradable, non petroleum based plastic the Ecotopians had developed and manufactured. while wood is the building material of choice, houses are also built from large tubes of insulated bioplastic, which are joined at the whim of the family or commune creating the house. (there are no architects, everyone builds their own houses themselves to suit their needs.) these houses are cheap and accessible, and zoning laws seem to be nonexistent, making homelessness a nonissue.

in terms of materials, everything in Ecotopia is renewable and has a full zero waste lifecycle. wood is the material of choice. the only metal Ecotopians use comes from scavenged cars and machinery of the pre seccession era. Ecotopians still manufacture plastic, but most kinds of it are fully biodegradable in a few days. when a lasting material is needed, a different type of plastic is used; this kind will not degrade until it is in full contact with soil. given how important disposable plastic is for applications such as research, i'm glad this was considered and accounted for in this book instead of throwing it off as a "we don't need plastic anymore kumbaya" kinda vibe.

culture wise, there is a lack of emotional restraint which the book’s narrator, a visitor from NYC, frequently comments on. hugs and physical affection between all relationships and genders are normalized. there also seems to be an insistence on small talk as a way to humanize those working “lesser skilled” jobs. honestly i found this a bit annoying, as i don’t think small talk is necessarily indicative of human connection, and that a truly emotionally attuned people would be okay with giving space when necessary. but i thought it was nice to acknowledge that all people are people, even while working “subservient” jobs.

ok so those were the things i liked.

criticism #1.

WILLIAM WESTON STOP BEING A FUCKING MISOGYNIST CHALLENGE

alternatively:

ERNEST CALLENBACH WRITE ONE (1) WOMAN WHO ISN’T A SEX OBJECT CHALLENGE

NO, THE WOMAN WHO YOU DESCRIBED AS UNATTRACTIVE WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE IN A POSITION OF POWER DOES NOT COUNT

god jesus christ

over the course of his adventures, journalist William Weston encounters many fellows (men) and new friends whom he talks around the fire with (men). he also encounters Marissa, a beautiful wild woman, exotic and mysterious who runs through the forest, cares deeply for trees, stares into his soul with her plain face and round dark eyes, and has sex with him twenty four hours three hundred sixty five days a year.

he also encounters Linda, an attractively sarcastic yet caring nurse, who nurses his injuries, jacks him off, and consumes him with thoughts of when he “will be healed enough to fuck her properly”. (direct quote)

in addition to the misogyny, there appears to be a fair amount of gender essentialism in Ecotopian society, something I found disappointing. Ecotopian clothes are sharply gendered. (from my understanding of Ecotopian values, i’d expect everyone to be wearing skirts due to the ease of manufacture and resulting ease of movement.) women are described to have an “air of fertility” (yes, actually). the governing party is made up of women, due to womens’ “natural competency regarding cooperation and diplomacy rather than competition”. the only sport in the country, the ritual war games, is barred to women. (it’s actually remarked later in the book that in Ecotopian psychology offices, it is often women who come in with issues of untamed aggression, and attributes it to their exclusion from the games. i wonder what a solution could be 🤔) thankfully work is not gendered, but it appears the social spheres of men and women rarely intersect, as Weston socializes and discusses ideas with a fair amount of men, and no women. perhaps for the better, as he’d be too distracted trying to fuck them to have a discussion of any substance.

queer pairings are also mentioned offhand, but they serve the purpose of emphasizing the Ecotopian's open attitudes towards sex and intimacy. queerness is treated as a sexual quirk rather than as an orientation.

in addition to the disappointing sexism / heterosexism, there's a good amount of racism. different races live segregated. although this is a conscious choice by the inhabitants, it still strikes as somewhat odd that there wouldn't be a way for humans to maintain their culture while living in an integrated society. many of the barriers to race equality in our current system are abolished in Ecotopia; the cheapness of the bioplastic houses makes it accessible for anyone to own a house anywhere, and the ease with which people can start their own enterprises reduces employment barriers significantly. therefore i'd expect integration between races to be a significant achievement of the Ecotopians. the writing itself is also racist. callenbach makes distinctions while describing the cultures of the nonwhite populations that make it clear that white is the default of Ecotopia, and all other cultures are side notes. also, callenbach makes no mention of an Ecotopian prison system (an aspect of society that no doubt merits analysis) until he mentions the Black community. sir what is up with that 🤨

there's also a lot to be said of callenbach's treatment of Indigenous ideas. the Ecotopians take a lot of inspiration from classic Indigenous principles, such as living in balance with the earth's natural resources and respecting nonhuman life, and Indigenous clothing styles. however, this feels rather appropriative rather than appreciative, and there are no actual Indigenous characters in the book. i would expect that such an empathetic society which takes direct principles from Indigenous culture would appreciate and honor the Indigenous people within that society rather than just shamelessly taking their culture, especially given the context that Ecotopians are ex citizens of the united states, the country which caused the Indigenous communities in that area so much harm.

overall, i think this book's strengths lie in its rethinking of what society could be like without work as its central focus. i love the UBI system, the reduced work week, and the attitude of work as something to enjoy rather than something to get over with. i also love that the nation's economic fall wasn't skipped over. i think its important to realize that many policies which would improve human health and quality of life would also lower our GDP, and that maybe that's perfectly fine. maybe human lives matter more than how rich a nation is. despite all these strengths, however, the sexism and racism cannot be overlooked; they made me almost put the book down several times. this book is clearly a product of its time, written by a white man. in keeping with good critical thinking practices, its important to recognize what ideas are good to keep and what needs to be thrown out.

tldr: great ideas about an alternative structure for society, unfortunately sexist and racist as well. 6/10

#gonna spam tags in hopes that it finds someone who's read it •_• #ecotopia #ecopunk #solarpunk #urban planning #utopia #sustainability #ecology #sci fi novels #sci fi #environmentalism #currently reading #books #bookblr #politics #public transportation #ernest callenbach #UBI #book review

[ntls-24722]

Behold. The Andromedan Gender Spectrum that's also how the SOS world works, with various nodes indicated by Spamtons.

Beware for gore, blood, generally uncanny valley and weird nonsense below the cut. This is not going to make a lot of sense and it's also going to be way too wordy but I need to get this out of my brain or I will explode. It's also, weirdly enough, the most FNAF-related ramble that I've gone on in a HOT minute, so,

So - why did this gender spectrum accidentally become how things work.

This spectrum was made off of the experience of the Oort Cloud creations, and considering that all of them are dead, they have experienced both planes of life. For the Animal-Machine scale, their lives really did go from literal animals, being forcefully given sentience, and then having the attempt to be made into machines made out of them. Which is why they consider Machines to be indicative of maleness, because it was this weird human concept of gender that they were forced into in order to be "Music Men." The "women are animals and machines are men" thing is still off since their feminity is just an opposition to being a drone of entertainment that's palatable to humans and still not our idea of "women."

The Ichor-Stone scale is a part of it since the afterlife is seperate from the material plane and exists only on the ichor-stone scale.

The "Starving" sides is representative of life - beings that need to be maintained and are constantly looking for energy. Animals feed on Stone and Machines feed on Ichor.

The "Satisfied" sides is representative of forces, forces and energy that do not need maintaining - they do not need to eat, breathe, or sleep, just are. Ichor represents this the way gods do, unbridled force and energy that does not eat or bleed. Stone represents this the way stones do, inertial force that does not eat or bleed. Stone is also known as Death for the same reason. Those in the afterlife are in the satisfied sides. Ghosts, souls, essence, exist in the ichor catagory as forces unrestrained by matter. But everyone bores of immortality, ghosts will eventually become the universe's background radiation/the afterlife itself, converting to Stone. Both Animals and Machines die, and for this reason, everything gravitates towards Stone, although stone can be ignited into Ichor again.

Machine and Animal both don't exist. It really does work like gender - Machine and Animal are both imaginary lifestyles.

Starving beings are not necessarily organic or inorganic. It's any thing that requires a store of Ichor to do anything and without it, that thing becomes Stone. A toaster, a plant, a person, your pet - all starving beings.

Animal is the lifestyle of constantly seeking Ichor. It is associated with stone because it seeks Stone, it becomes stone - always looking to make and find a corpse to sink its jaws into, to devour and ignite into Ichor, only for it to eventually be converted to Stone when it dies out, and having to find more Animals to devour. But eventually, they always become stone in the end. However, what makes Animals nonexistant is that the ideal Animal does nothing but this. Any being that executes an action that is not dedicated to eating and growing cannot be catagorized as an Ideal Animal, but you can be catagorized as one from how much you do it, namely much like animals who have to do that... constantly.

Machines are the opposite. They are associated with Ichor because the Ideal Machine never has to eat, breathe, sleep. Its entire life is spent executing actions that are unrelated for searching for Ichor, as an eternal flow of ichor is guaranteed. But of course, nothing actually lives like that. But robots, eletrical applications, machines - Until they are unplugged, this is much like their life, and androids and such are paragons of Machines.

With all that being said, here's each of the nodes. I do note that some of the nodes are examples and multiple things can take up certain positions (Trifectas and the Center)

AGONY AND REMNANT

Both purely Ichor energies but have Animal-Machine alignments.

Agony has the animal alignment as it's less a source of violence and rage but rather the will to sustain yourself and keep yourself alive, which is why it's often used to reanimate and sometimes speed up evolution/adaptation

Remnant has the Machine alignment as it powers whatever it comes into contact with to live and experience sapience.

GOD, THE SUN, CORPSES, ROCKS

The far corners of the Andromedan Spectrum. Gods are purely ichor and Machine-aligned due to a gods' nature of Doing Whatever They Want Forever, and the Sun is Animal-aligned due to their association with Stone/death with their grandoise supernovas and their hungry insides.

Corpses and Rocks are practically the same, Corpses just happen to come from Animals and Rocks from Machines.

MACROFAUNA, "LIFELIKE" MACHINERY, THE UNDEAD, AND "HAUNTED" MACHINES

Macrofauna specifically relates to Animals who cultivate Ichor and due to the bodily needs in order to do so (and the subsequent energy allowing them to be,), they are generally humongous. Comet is man-made macrofauna.

"Lifelike" machines generally have some sort of Ichor within them that makes them sentient and much like humans. The Plex animatronics fall into this category but due to the interesting way their Ichor was procured, they actually teeter a little left into Animal catagory.

The undead are not necessarily zombies, though they are generally corpses that were fused into one horrible being by agony or remnant (or both), and make up the "monsters" of SOS.

Haunted machines are also sentient, but have much less power to act it. They have a mind of their own but not a body to really do anything about it. Generally they are possessed, unlike the lifelike machines whose "minds" are made from soulless ichor. The first animatronics at Freddy Fazbear's aren't perfectly haunted or lifelike due to the the corpses inside of them, which makes them a little more Animal than usual.

TRIFECTAS: ANIMAL-MACHINE-STONE AND ANIMAL-MACHINE-ICHOR

William and Micheal Afton are both undead, but their agony and will to live to destroy one another has both reanimated them and fused them into machinery. They don't need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but their flesh is actively failing them and they grow more dependent on their machine parts.

Comet is Macrofauna and in the attempt to make her more of a Machine, the Oort Cloud actually gave her the very Remnant that she produced, relieving her of the need to eat, though she still feels the pain of starvation.

CENTER

"People" are found up and down the very middle of the spectrum, not because they are in the afterlife but because their collective lifestyle and search for civilization have removed them from the typical classification of Animal but they will never be the Machines that they aspire to be. Humans are at the very center but they are not the only thing at the very center. Any Animal that aspires to a Machine-like way of life and the opposite with Machines that aspire for an organic lifestyle (Willed Organism) can be at the very center.

The Undead and Macrofauna who are able to become sentient and machine-like can also take the role as a Trifecta. Fritz is undead, but veers much closer to Animal than usual due to his cannibalistic tendencies and his former feral lifestyle. The Hemonymphs are in the same position as Fritz.

#yeah man i don't know it sure is something #ntls-24722 #FNAF #five nights at freddy's #fnaf 1 #fnaf 9 #fnaf security breach #security breach #fnaf au #djmm #dj music man #william afton #micheal afton #freddy fazbear #glamrock freddy #SOS ntls #comet #fritz #original character #digital

[m0thmancore]

this doesn't merit a reblog because it's different enough i think but it's inspired by the post that you should look at here and is also directly below this one if you're on my blog seeing this

so the original post is about the duality of being transmasc while also defending the nonexistent perception of you as a woman and how really the man vs women differences don't exist (no really it's such a good post go read it)

so anyway i had the opposite version as the "boy" who was surrounded by girls: i'd do shit and people would be like "stop that, guys don't do that" and like. well i'm not. but also so what if they do? you are not the Guy General i actually think men can do whatever they want! still not me though

like i talk about this in the context of autism and being trans every once in a while but i had the weird gendered thing where by standard gender rules i wasn't a girl but also just. kinda wasn't a guy. like not in the same way cis people were yk? and everyone did try to correct that but they went the wrong way

so it was really weird to defend shit like "guys can sit with their legs crossed and say they love people who are not their family members" while also not being the people who were the receiving end of "guys can't sit with their legs crossed that's how girls sit" because yes you're so close (though i didn't know it yet)

anyway gender nonconformity is cool and based and trans solidarity is too

(hope this makes sense lol it's 4 am)

#transgender #lgbtq #lgbtqiia+ #trans #transfem #autistic things #actually autistic #queer theory shit #gender

[rollercoasterwords]

why are you invalidating people’s real concerns in this fandom? you’re naive if you think that “the fandom” doesn’t have opinions they all agree with that become popular. sure people have their own opinions, but honestly that’s very rare and not seen. you and i both could list popular headcanons in the fandom that people mostly take as canon. remus and sirius have turned into a straight couple, especially with the headcanon that sirius is now a girl. as a woman myself i love sirius as a girl but i hate how the fandom treats feminine sirius. sirius doesn’t have any depth anymore besides being remus’ love interest and sirius is always in the wrong and sirius is always the bad guy - just like society always blames women for everything and men always get a pass. literally look at the fanart. remus’ disabilities have been completely erased. remus is drawn as this huge super manly guy towering over little dainty feminine sirius. in fanfics remus is verbally abusive to sirius bc oh he’s a man and has anger issues. remus is a slut who everyone was in love with but eventually settles down with sirius. these are all stereotypes. idk why you’re trying to tell people this isn’t a thing in the fandom when it literally is.

assuming this is about the two anons i responded to two days ago, one of which was saying they did not like my particular characterization of r+s in a fic and asking me to rewrite it and the other of which was responding to it. both of my responses were focused around saying that my characterization didn't even fit the dynamic being complained about and saying the terms in which that complaint was being stated were odd in the first place (assuming one character being shorter than another automatically makes them feminine, calling a gay relationship heteronormative, asking to making a non-canon-compliant fic more canon compliant, etc). if someone has a real concern with my specific fic that is not premised in gender essentialism then i have yet to hear it; otherwise, i'm not sure how you want me to "validate" that concern unless you are also asking me to rewrite my fic. in which case, the answer is still no lol

and i genuinely do not think "the fandom" is monolith in which everyone agrees on everything; calling me naive is not going to change my mind. i agree that there are popular hcs, sure, but even those are not monolithic in their application and can be filtered and avoided--i know this because there are many popular hcs that i filter and avoid to the point that they are virtually nonexistent in my fandom space. i suggest others do the same with hcs they dislike because i genuinely think that's the best way to approach fandom: curate your space for your own peace of mind.

your experiences with fandom are not singular and are not representative of everyone's. from where i'm sitting, writing sirius as a girl is not a super popular hc--i've seen the hc from time to time, but overwhelmingly i've seen it in the context of r/s femslash, not people writing them as a straight couple. and even then, i still mostly see r/s written as gay men in the vast majority of fics i read and like...posts the people i follow make on tumblr.com. i don't use other platforms to interact w marauders content nor do i stray outside my small circle of mutuals' posts, so if this is some mega-popular hc elsewhere i am simply unaware. from the actual fics posted on ao3, though, gay r/s still seems to be dominating the wolfstar fandom. and to then say that sirius has no personality past being a love interest and always being blamed for everything--again, this is genuinely not something i see. i have never read a fic where sirius is a one dimensional love interest or where it's just sirius-bashing; i'm sure they exist out there somewhere, but i have not found them to make up a majority. maybe i've gotten lucky and miraculously managed to avoid the numerous fanfics where sirius is this caricature you're describing, but personally i think it's more likely that this is an extreme representation of the way people write the character. if you'd like to send me some of the many fics where this is happening to illustrate what you mean, though, feel free.

remus's canonical disability is lycanthropy. that has not been erased in any of the fics i've read that are set in the magical universe. in every non-magical au i've read, he has been written as a disabled character as well. there are plenty of people in this fandom who are not erasing disability as an aspect of his character. if you're not able to find those fics i would be happy to recommend some, and i'm sure others would as well.

i have not seen the fanart you're referring to where remus is drawn as a super manly guy towering over dainty feminine sirius. i'm sure it exists out there, but most of the fanart i personally see doesn't portray them that way--it is definitely not the only way these characters are drawn.

none of the fanfics i've read have had anything that i would characterize as verbal abuse between remus and sirius. nor have they had remus as "a slut," (not crazy about your tone here, tbh) though he is sexually active in some fics i've read with people other than sirius. personally i don't mind characterizations where the two have had or do have sex with other people before getting together. in fact, i prefer it to fics where they only ever sleep with each other, as it more accurately reflects my own experiences w the world (ie, most people are not virgins until "settling down" with one person etc).

all of the things you're describing here can be stereotypes, sure. but i personally have not seen an overwhelming number of fics characterizing r + s this way. i'm not saying it doesn't exist; i'm saying that i have curated my own space to avoid any such one-dimensional portrayals and encouraging others to do the same, because there are tons of people who are not writing the characters this way. "the fandom" is not a monolith, and if you feel like there are certain hcs that are super popular it's possible you've become stuck in a feedback loop where you're seeing them over and over again when in other parts of the fandom they are virtually nonexistent (case in point: i was blissfully unaware of all of this discourse until i started getting these asks). personally, i find it more useful to just block and unfollow people who are posting stuff i don't like, because i don't really see a way to try and police what people are or aren't allowed to write about when it comes to gender in fanfic that doesn't eventually devolve back into gender essentialism. if the concern is that you're noticing what appears to be a certain standard of femininity or masculinity elevated over others, then i personally find it more helpful to have conversations breaking down gender roles + gender essentialism more broadly (as opposed to sending people anonymous messages about how everyone is writing sirius too feminine and remus too masculine), which is something i already do pretty frequently on my blog.

this is the only ask about this whole discourse i'm going to answer; any complaints that "the fandom" as a whole is doing something are not something i'm interested in entertaining because the fandom isn't a monolith and 90% of the time the complaint in question is not even something i'm seeing based on how i've curated my space. i really don't know what to tell you beyond that--if there are things bothering you about what you're seeing in your fandom spaces, coming into my askbox is not going to fix it and will most likely just end with me blocking you, because i have better things to do with my time than deal with other people's discourse.

#ask

[lavenderbexlatte]

day 29 - pet play

twice 1.5k words gender neutral reader insert Reader x Im Nayeon NSFW

🖤 warnings: oral sex (f receiving), anal play, nayeon bunny costume brainrot, the various animal-related bits that go with the territory of this idk what else to tell you 🖤

kinktober masterlist

connect with me! / masterlist

Costume parties, especially ones put on by the frats and sororities, are the best.

The drinks are always free, the hottest people on campus are always there, and you get to go out wearing something ridiculous.

The sexy costume thing? The idea that everyone just wears slutty outfits and if you don't, you're a loser? Absolute lie. You've seen about a hundred people in full cosplay-style outfits and elaborate makeup. Zombies, monsters, cartoon characters, and a handful of people like you, who bundled up in a onesie and called it a day.

You're a shark, of course.

Slightly scary, to fit the spirit of things. Very comfortable, since it's a onesie. It even has pockets, and you definitely did walk into the party with half a quesadilla in there. It's gone now. Eaten.

Some people are in slutty outfits, of course, and that's part of the fun, too. Watching them enjoy themselves, dancing with them, letting shirtless guys in body paint and girls in little skirts and fishnet tights tell you how cute your costume is, how cozy.

You didn't expect one of those girls to be Nayeon.

You didn't think she knew you, actually.

She's in two of your classes, and you've definitely talked to her enough times that she recognizes you, says hello in the halls, but Nayeon is the kind of pretty that renders you absolutely useless.

It's her sorority house, so you should have expected to see her. You're nursing a hard cider and enjoying the absolutely batshit playlist that one of the frat guys from down the street has booming over the speakers - what the fuck kind of DJ name is Sunny Side Up? - when you spot her.

Nayeon and all her sorority sisters are dressed as animals, too, but theirs are a little different than yours. Skimpy and pretty. You can spot a tiger, a dog, an unexpectedly cute frog, and then there's Nayeon herself.

A bunny.

God, she's a knockout.

She went blonde earlier this week, a glossy, almost sandy color against the stark white of the floppy bunny ears pinned to her head. Pink blush across her nose and cheeks, glitter dusted over her whole face (not very rabbit-like, but very cute), and when she laughs, her prominent front teeth that are always attractive but now, with the rest of the look, really are like a bunny.

And you're dressed in a shark onesie.

University never feels like this, because social lines are literally nonexistent, at least not the way they can be in high school, but for some reason, you feel like you'd have no chance with someone like her.

You know, until she comes up to you.

She catches sight of you from over there, in her knot of pretty friends, and her face lights up. She makes a beeline for you, the fuzzy white ears bouncing against her head as she walks. You're sweating it, wondering what on Earth she wants.

"I didn't think I'd see you here!" she says.

"I'm here," you reply stupidly.

She beams. "Cute costume."

"Thanks."

You have got to get it together. Nayeon wants to talk to you and you're fucking it up!

"But yours is much cuter," you add.

"I didn't work very hard on it," she says, touching one of the clip-on ears gently, as if to make sure it's still there.

"You didn't need to."

Because she's already so adorable, you mean, and it seems like she understands. Underneath the blush, she goes even pinker.

"Oh, thanks," she says.

She's acting as embarrassed as you, as flustered as you. That's funny, and kind of strange, because that would lead you to believe...that would mean...

"I was actually hoping to run into you," she says, "Like, outside of class, you know. I never see you out."

"Ah, you know." Very helpful answer.

"Did you come here with anyone?"

You're stupefied. "No, I just-"

"Would you want to hang out with me?"

It's a little unclear exactly how that invitation turned into taking jello shots with Nayeon and her sorority sisters, which turned into the girl in the frog costume nudging and prodding you and Nayeon closer together as the lot of you went out into the crowd to dance, which turned into this.

You're tipsy but not drunk, as Nayeon winds herself around you, slim arms around your neck, smiling against your mouth as she kisses you breathless.

She's knocked the hood of your onesie off, in her eagerness. You're barely even a shark anymore.

"Can we go upstairs?" she asks.

"Like - I mean, you want to-"

Your questions trip over each other, but she just nods, smiling with those bunny teeth.

"Fuck," you swear. "Yeah. Let's go."

Another blur of time and blonde hair and Nayeon's friends laughing as she tugs you away from the party, and then you're in her neat cream-toned room.

The pet name just slips out.

You're laughing through it, and you don't mean to say it, but she's still in her costume, and she looks so unbelievably cute, and she's practically bouncing on the spot, it's just-

"Calm down, bunny."

Nayeon looks at you with wide eyes, hands frozen where they were busy undoing the long row of buttons down the front of your onesie.

"Shit, I'm sorry," you say, horrified. "I didn't mean-"

She waves her hands quickly. "No, no. It's...it's okay."

"I shouldn't - oh, God-"

"No!" Nayeon insists. "I mean...I am, aren't I?"

Your panic at crossing a line turns into confusion. "You are?"

Nayeon smiles. "A bunny."

This girl is going to fucking kill you.

"I guess you are," you say slowly.

"So if you wanted to keep saying it. You know. I wouldn't mind."

A few questions about intent and boundaries, a few long awkward pauses, and perhaps the most excruciating sexual tension that you've ever felt in your life, and then you're watching Nayeon dig through a little box that she'd taken out of her closet. Her expression is mischievous. You're not sure you're going to survive tonight.

You're down for anything, as a rule, as long as it's, like, safe and consensual. And if Nayeon wants to play this kind of game, you're down. More than down. But you've never done something like this.

"Got it!" Nayeon says, triumphant.

She's holding a silicone plug with a - fucking hell, you nearly swallow your tongue - fuzzy white rabbit's tail on it.

You can't hold back your curiosity. "Do you use that a lot?"

"Oh, sometimes. The ears match," she says, airy and devious, "It's a set."

It's a set. Of course it is. Goddamn.

Nayeon grins. "D'you wanna help me with it?"

"Hell yes, I do."

No point being subtle now. Nayeon laughs, and hands you the plug.

The body of her rabbit costume is just a pair of shorts and a tank top, both in white, and you've got them both off her in record time. Her ears stay in place better than you'd expected, as you pull the tank top over her head, as you kiss and push and tickle her into kneeling at the edge of her bed, tight little ass in the air, pink bunny nose and cheek pressed to the bed.

"Eager," you say.

"Very."

The visual in front of you just makes the words pour out. "Eager bunny, just looking for someone to play with?"

She groans. You snap the band of her skimpy underwear against her hip.

"Looking for an owner," Nayeon says.

Now it's your turn to groan, a punched-out sound that you can barely recognize as your own.

Her underwear are discarded quickly after, and you take a second, a long long second, to think about what a mindfuck this night has become. Probably the most beautiful girl you know, beneath you like this...

It's only natural to lean down and lick a stripe up her core, and she wriggles at your touch. Adorable.

There's a bottle of lube in her little toybox, which you pop open to slick up your fingers. "Bunny needs her bunny tail, doesn't she?"

"Yes," Nayeon agrees. "Please."

"Stay still."

Mouth back on her folds, seeking out her clit with your tongue, you breach her ass with one finger. She takes it easily, easily enough that you can guess how often she likes to use the tail plug. You're not much for multitasking, but this is exactly the kind of thing you can manage.

Two fingers are more of a stretch (ha), but Nayeon doesn't seem to mind, as she cants her hips back against your fingers, your face.

"That's good enough," Nayeon says. "The - the - please-"

"You want it now?"

"Yes!"

So you slick up the plug, careful to avoid getting sticky lube on the fuzzy part, and you guide it into place. It goes so easily that you moan along with her.

She's so ridiculously hot. What even is this night? What kind of blessing are you being granted, right now?

Bunny teeth, bunny ears, bunny tail.

"What d'you need now, bunny?" you ask.

Nayeon looks over her shoulder at you, blonde fair fanning over her back, falling in her face. "Whatever you want. Whatever - want to be good."

You grin, even as your head roils with arousal. "Good for your owner?"

#kinktober 2022 #kpop kinktober #im nayeon fanfic #im nayeon smut #twice nayeon fanfic #twice nayeon smut #twice fanfic #twice smut

[a-dumb-sarcastic-bisexual]

So I rewatched TMNT 2012 cause my brain is fully committed to being obsessed with TMNT and here are my thoughts:

Thankfully it has knocked me out of my month-long writer's block but before I start writing headcanons again (for either series) I want to put my hot takes out there 

I don’t hate April 

Do I love her? Absolutely not

She’s annoying and impulsive and arrogant and selfish and she can be incredibly one-dimensional at times 

But so is the rest of the group

She’s not my favorite character but she’s not my least favorite either 

She’s just a teenage girl written by old men so it’s not surprising that a lot of people find her unrealistic 

I fucking hate Casey Jones/j 

I want to strangle him but I also want to hug him 

I want to punch him and sew little pockets into my clothes so I can take him with me everywhere 

He’s so stupid and my favorite character 

I like Donnie but I skip most scenes with him and April 

I chose to ignore the stalker plot-line 

In my mind, it’s nonexistent and adds nothing to the story 

I treat the whole Karai/Leo thing with the same energy 

Because why the fuck did the writers think that was a good idea 

Every single relationship was poorly written 

April is an aro/ace queen and I will accept no arguments 

They should have kept Karai and Leo’s relationship purely platonic 

I would have loved to see her become sort of a mentor to Leo but all we got was a disgusting love story that went nowhere and added nothing to the plot 

I think we should swap out every “my love interest is actually my sibling?!” plotline with a “my rival/enemy/mentor is actually my sibling?! Fuck yeah!” plotline 

Shini and Karai had the most chemistry and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were secretly dating 

I lowkey ship Casey with everyone except the girls 

But I mainly ship him with Donnie… Don't judge me I love enemies to lovers 

Leo is a trans woman, Donnie is nonbinary and uses he/they pronouns, and Mikey and Raph are gender-fluid (no I will not elaborate)

I’m fully convinced that every single person who claimed Raph Donnie and Leo were terrible brothers are only a children 

If I see one more person edit depicting Mikey as this helpless victim while the others are these evil abusers I will rip my hair out 

Are there moments when Leo/Donnie/Raph hit Mikey when it is unnecessary? Yes

Are there moments when they ignore him when he brings up a good point? Totally

Could I make a 30-minute compilation of the boys insulting Mikey’s intelligence? Absolutely 

But I can’t bring up all of that without mentioning the hundreds of times when Mikey is being an asshole

He’ll make fun of Donnie or tease Leo or mess with Raph 

Because that’s what siblings do!! (especially younger siblings)

They shove and they tussle and they poke fun

Some of my siblings show affection in a very similar way to Raph (they’re not great with words but they show their love with their actions) so when I see people write shit like “Raph is a terrible brother” it frustrates me to tears 

I have this memory that I will always cherish of my older step brothers and sister dragging me into a wresting match that ended with me at the bottom of a dog pile 

And I almost cried not because I was in pain but because it was something I had watched them do when I was younger and never participated in because it felt like a “sibling thing”

And they knew this and I knew they were telling me in their own way that no matter what anyone says I’m their little sibling 

Splinter is a fantastic master but a terrible father (no I will not take criticism on this take) 

I wanted to turn off my laptop every time Shredder came back 

Like don’t get me wrong I love a recurring villain as much as the next enby 

But he’s so one-dimensional that I tuned him out after season 3 

Now I will be rating all the seasons 

Season 1: 8/10 

In my personal opinion, it’s good 

Not outstanding but it’s a good foundation 

Season 2: 9/10 

I loved this season 

I honestly loved the whole conflict between April and the boys 

And it introduced my baby/rat bastard 

Season 3: ♾️/10 

My favorite season out of all of them 

I wish they stayed at the farmhouse 

Everyone seemed happier there 

‘Race with the Demon’ is my favorite episode 

‘In dreams’ is my second favorite 

Season 4: 7/10 

I fell in love with fugitoid 

Also, this might seems stupid but half of my enjoyment of this season could be credited to the voice actors 

And I also recognized a lot of them so it turned into a fun little game of where’s waldo 

I would be listening to an episode and go “doctor who?” “Godbrand??” “Andrias?!” “CASSANDRA JONES!!” 

I loved the fact that Karai and Shini were trying to build their own foot clan and make it honorable and I wish they talked about it more

I like Apri’s corruption arc but I feel like they completely swept Donnie’s death under the rug

Like they immediately forgave April even though they watched as she pulled Donnie apart molecule by molecule 

Season 5: 0/10 

Throw this dumpster fire away 

God I hated this season 

It felt so random

There was no rhyme or reason 

It just feels like they shoved half bakes ideas into a season and expected us to like it 

It made my viewing experience incredibly bittersweet

Cause I just watched season after season of amazing episodes to end it with this charcuterie board of half-baked ideas

#hi.... #I'm not dead #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 2012 #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt april #tmnt casey jones #I am once again begging only children to shut up #please stop talking about situations you dont understand

[polyamorouspunk]

Im doing great, I hope you guys have an amazing Wednesday!!

Thank you!

I just had human biology and my teacher is the kind of person who you just tell your entire life story so one girl in my class was talking about her surgeries and she mentioned she had a breast reduction so I immediately perked up and after everyone left I was like okay HOW did she get a breast reduction because I know for a fact doctors don’t take you seriously when you say you have back pains and are worried about breast cancer if you don’t have the marker etc. and like my mom told me to try that route as a work-around to get is as “gender affirming surgery” (because I’m a DD so like it’s not out of the realm of possibility) and she was like oh yeah my child is nonbinary I feel that the trans healthcare system is a mess, just save up and go to Florida which is like TRUE but I don’t want to save up that much. But yeah random things today. Just to talk about myself more I like. Haven’t had dysphoria in a long time thankfully probably because we’re more solid than we were during the pandemic as a system whose like more “whole” but like still I hunch over all the time and when I carry my boobs I can feel the weight they take off my back and I’m like I could live like this!!! I could live a life where when I drop my big ass boobs my whole upper body doesn’t get literally dragged down with me. Not even like a gender thing like we could just not hunch over all the time and not have to worry as much about breast cancer. But yeah I was talking like I feel like my chest is too big to safely bind (that might not be true but as a personal choice out of safety I don’t bind BECAUSE my dysphoria is nonexistent now) but I made sure I was like if your kid binds make sure you really do your research and get a good binder because it can fuck up your back and just yeah. Passing on trans tips to parents of trans/nonbinary teens. Make sure your child gets a good binder to be safe. Etc. I want my boobs gone. Etc. But like also not in a rush for that they don’t bother me I just don’t want to be 80 and literally look like the letter C.

#sorry to just like dump but my mind is going brrrr about it #punk gets mail #trans healthcare

[rjalker]

Has been in my drafts for like over a year now.

You can enjoy something and criticize its failing at the same time. The Murderbot Diaries has a lot of issues that need to be addressed.

"Murderbot isn't actually a robot so it's not a stereotype for it to be nonbinary!"

okay people just because Martha Wells has decided to call SecUnits and ComfortUnits "constructs" instead of "anthroids" does not mean you get to defend the real exorsexist stereotype that Murderbot and yes, literally all the other robot characters in these books fall into!

The "nonbinary robot" is in fact a transmisic stereotype that yes, in fact, 10000% applies to Murderbot, and ART, and Miki, and literally everyone else.

Why is Murderbot nonbinary? Because it's an androgynoid that doesn't have any gender or sex-related parts. Because its sex is non existant and therefore its gender is nonexistant because Martha Wells equates sex with gender.

Murderbot is the epitome of the "nonbinary robot" stereotype. Because on top of being nonbinary because it has no sex and thus no gender, it's also aroace.

The stereotype would not apply if Martha Wells' view of gender extended beyond "sex = gender" in any meaningful way, but it very clearly does not right now, because if it did, we would not be six books into a series filled with nonbinary robots, and then have only one nonbinary human so far, who only appeared for a few scenes and doesn't really do anything before being shoved off-screen until te gets another sentence right at the end of the book.

(no, seriously, I will literally go in and fucking highlight every scene where Rami is actually there doing stuff when I'm done posting this and I will post the grand total of ter contribution to the fucking book to drive it home.)

And to make it clear, the problem here is not that Murderbot is aroace and nonbinary.

The problem is that we've had six books now, and yet somehow the only nonbinary human character was back in book 2, and te only appeared for a few scenes and didn't really do much at all.

And no! No! The random single-appearance background humans that Murderbot apparently arbitrarily uses they/them pronouns for do not fucking count as nonbinary human representation! Not when literally no one in these books has ever fucking asked "hey what are your pronouns?" or even just fucking listed their pronouns in their bio!!

I keep seeing people saying this book has "great trans rep" and no, it literally objectively does not. In order to have trans rep it would have to have trans characters who exist for more than five seconds.

Murderbot is not trans. Not unless Martha Wells decides to do the smart thing and reveal that "no Murderbot, your experiences are not universal to al SecUnits"

And no, this does not fucking mean any of you exorsexist assholes get to misgender Murderbot or any other of these nonbinary characters!

#Rjalker reads The Murderbot Diaries #discussion of exorsexism #Discussion of transmisia #exorsexism #transmisia #tmbd fandom exorsexism #fandom exorsexism #tmbd fandom transmisia #fandom transmisia

[mesaprotector]

Still drifting down the stream.

There's perpetually a side of me that's focused on current responsibilities and thinks I can do it no matter how stressed I get, and a side of me that sneaks in during quiet moments and goes "don't forget, you're depressed, and none of this BS will stop you from getting older and dying alone".

Sometimes - okay, very often - I find myself thinking my love life is really the *only* problem I have, and everything else is a complex built on a complex that just is really how things go when you can't fix things for more than half your life. Like I still half believe if tomorrow I fell in love and it led to a decent relationship the hopelessness would stop trying to sneak in.

I resent to some degree nearly everyone I get to know well and a bunch of fictional characters too. Hell, I can barely describe my feelings sometimes except through stories I read. And at times I feel I'm very wise. I told a relative recently I feel what revolutionaries nearly always get wrong is just how much happiness there already is in the world. That makes me sound like I'm a lovely, humanity-supporting, balanced human being. Rather than someone who rereads a manga about a girl who murders four people just to comfort myself.

Are there even stories written about people like me? I wonder that a lot.

I genuinely believe I deserve to be happier than I am. I don't blame anyone but I kind of wish I could. I don't think asking for someone I'm at least a tiny bit attracted to to like me back is that outrageous.

I wonder if the version of me that dated in high school and college would be as unconcerned with money as I am. A lot of things stop mattering when you're still figuring out if your own life is worth it.

Do other people not have thoughts this dark? I can't imagine ever having a friend (or lover) I could tell absolutely everything to. Hearing people say they share everything with their bestie/husband/etc. I don't know anymore if they lack self awareness, or if I really am just incredibly screwed up.

I know I wasn't always. My darkest secrets in high school were pretty normal things I've since at least hinted at to friends. But then every couple months I tie myself into another knot and it gets deeper and deeper...

I can talk endlessly about my horrible feelings but I can't cry. Well, I can - but only about stories and music I love.

I took psych in high school without realizing I'd get stuck in "Identity vs. Role Confusion" at least a decade past when I should've figured it out. My identity is nonexistent. I'm just me. I sometimes feel Jewish or American or weeaboo-ish but I never throw myself into any category with my whole heart. I hate gender and wish it didn't exist. I barely know what race is. I never see myself in any personality type description. I can't paint myself over for anyone - I apply for jobs using a thoroughly unprofessional email address - but I'm also forgettable, stoic, and mild.

I'm sleepy.

Tomorrow I have work that I'm not sure will get done. If it does I probably will feel only slightly better.

Some day I hope I do feel like part of the world. I never really have.

#thoughts #i wonder why #i only feel this lucid when i'm not thinking