#^ wrote all this assuming you meant butch as in A Butch as i think i wrote about somewhere

[meirimerens]

please disregard this if it’s too personal but i was wondering how you knew being butch was right for you?

signed, a 21 yr old going through a life crisis x

i don't think being (a) butch is something that one registers as being "right for you" in the same way you'd find a painkiller that works, in the same way you'd get "ask your doctor if [...] is right for you" ads on american television. every butch will have a different story as to how they got to coming into their own, to self-actualizing and finding solace/comfort/recognition in the word butch. every butch will put something else to the name, but we all have similarities, and it's in these similarities that i "self-recognized through the other(s)" in many ways.

i, personally, have a history of being really uncomfortable in typically feminine clothing. (this is not a butch thing. feminine clothing is manufactured to be uncomfortable. however, for me, it is part of a pattern.) i, personally, remember competing with boys at a young age, consciously to prove myself as, if not more worthy than; subconsciously for girls' attentions. i, personally, have a history of trying to be feminine in order to compensate a feeling of deep wrongness and feeling, consistently, genuinely monstrous doing so, which only stopped when i dropped that shit completely. i found i related to other butches' ~gender troubles~. i found i related to other butches' relationship to their own selves, bodies, and ways to navigate relationships. many butches are not particularly into femme girls, but butch/femme is an important part of butch history, and this part deeply resonated with me. butches' writings about their butch lovers, butch friends, and butch selves resonated with me. femmes' writings about their butch lovers and butch friends resonated with me. many butches do not have a particularly deep or long history or present of dysphoria, or of feeling of straddling the line of womanhood and (trans)masculinity, but equally as many do, and this resonated with me. butchness put a word on that feeling of cusp, of brink or boundary, which made sense to me, but might not make sense to others.

mostly i stopped staring in my own face trying to decipher its meaning and stared into others' instead and found my own here, and these others were butches. it's a word that makes sense to me. we do not have it in my mother tongue, we have other things, but lesbians Like That have existed across times and cultures, and when i use english, write english, speak english, in the way i'm going with you now, i'll use that word, because it exists, and it fits me in this tongue.

my last piece of advice is like. there are plenty of other things to be than butch. there are also plenty of things to be that are real close to butch but are not it. the butch-femme scale is not a thing. the vast majority of lesbians are neither butch nor femme.

in my personal experience, the more you obsess about your identity and the more you try to look into all the folds & wrinkles of your navel in order to find your reflection, the less authentically you live, and the less likely you are to find an answer. i know it's easy to say "just don't have an identify crisis ^.^ just vibe!" but like. you Are gonna have to vibe. you're gonna have to let the waves batter you for a bit and carry you upon rocks and shores. the more you struggle against the sea the less it'll relent, and it's stronger than you. go out in the world and see how it embraces you and how you feel like embracing it back. the answers will come in due time.

#being honest. ''ask your doctor if butchness is right for you'' kind of slays as a slogan. should put it on a pin #^ wrote all this assuming you meant butch as in A Butch as i think i wrote about somewhere #& not about the like. general ~aesthetic~ of being masc #which is a wonderful thing to be and i'll use the term ''masc'' for myself as well [some butches will not; and will exclusively use Butch] #because if it was about the general ~aesthetic~ of being masc [which. you might have noticed i don't think Butch is exclusively about that] #you can try it and see if you feel better. you can just do that. see if it makes you feel truer. sexier. more confident. #ring ring (answers) #anonymous #as i've Aged in my twenties my main and constant advice has been: see the world and the people in it. #whatever you do avoid navelgazing as much as you can. also invest in hiking shoes. waterproof ones. i like the boots but some like the low. #[10 packs a day voice] my final message

[house-of-slayterr]

Mad Hatter

@howl-fantasies

Tw: Yandere and mentions of sexual assault

Maggies POV:

It was so nice to wake up in my own bed again. It was nice to not have overly lavish sheets and people doting on me every five seconds. Even mom never made me buy the expensive stuff for my room. I rolled over and smiled when I remembered the book Bruce gave me. I’d carry it with me everywhere. I got up and made my way over to the dinky coffee pot, and frowned when I realised I didn’t have any coffee. In fact it had been over a month since I’d been here, I’d probably have to throw everything out and buy fresh.

I quickly hopped in the shower and got dressed before heading down to the local coffee shop. Maybe I could get something fancy today. It was just nice to be out of Oswald’s suffocating grasp for five seconds. I opened the door and the sweet smell of espresso hit me. I was hooked on the Latte Y/N had ordered me way back when we first met. Nothing could ever beat that tatse.

“One french vanilla latte, extra foam and two plain coffees please.”

The barista took my order and left to make my drink. As I waited I checked my phone and realised there were 54 unread messages from Oswald.

“Shit.” I muttered under my breath.

I pulled up a group chat with Tabitha and Butch.

Maggie:

Good morning my favourite people on the planet.

Tabitha:

…

Butch:

Do you have any idea how much screaming we’ve put up with today? Where are you?!

Maggie:

Haha… about that.

Tabitha:

Don’t think just because you have a cute face and a nice ass I won’t kill you… cause I’ll do it… I’m this fucking close

Maggie:

Oh I believe, I’m not testing my luck. I just needed a break to clear my head for a bit. Just distract him until the end of the day ok, I promise I’ll be back soon 🥰

Butch:

The blushing heart emoji isn’t going to work this time…

Maggie:

What about my smiling face?

…

Tabitha:

God Damn it woman, stop being so fucking cute… well put up with the gremlin and his bullshit today but you owe us!

Maggie:

Whatever you say hottie 😘 I’m all yours

Butch:

Damn, I feel left out…

Maggie:

Please you know I’ll give you whatever you want, just might make you beg for it first

When neither of them replied back I assumed they got to work on distracting Oswald. The Barista came back with my drinks and I blushed when I noticed she wrote her number on the cup.

“I assumed the fancy one was yours cutie… text me” with a smiley face.

I don’t know what it was about Gotham, but I must have pleased Cupid in another life. Nobody ever talked to me, let alone approached me for dates back in Starling city. I was used to people flirting with Ollie and Thea all the time. Hell I even had to see people flirt with mom after Robert passed. It was a bit overwhelming, when really the only person I wanted to be with was Jim. But things just had to be so damn complicated.

I made my way over to the police station, taking the familiar path I used to take every day. I spotted Harvey right away.

“Long time no see mi amigo!” I greeted.

He turned around to meet my gaze.

“I see Oswald’s let you off your leash.”

“Let is a strong word… I broke out.”

He laughed.

“This one is for you!”

“Maggie, you didn’t have to get me coffee.”

“Really? You sure there’s not some law somewhere saying ‘you must bring your overworked cop friend coffee or you will be submitted to death by disappointed dad glare?’ Cause I think I read that somewhere.” I joked.

“I do not have a dad glare!”

“Yeah you do. You seen Jim?”

I saw his face scrunch up.

“Nope. Hey thanks for the coffee but I really got go handle this case.”

He was lying. I just sighed. I had to fix whatever this situation was before the tension destroyed me. It was driving me insane. I stood there for a movement sipping my latte, waiting to see if I would spot him, when someone popped into my vision. Lee. I frowned.

“How are you?” She asked in her sickly sweet voice.

“I’m fine.” I said a bit more bitterly than I meant too.

I mean what kind of girl leads a guy on, tells him that she loves him, then goes and gets engaged to Carmine Falcones son? Maybe Jim didn’t have enough money for her tacky taste. But all I know was that she didn’t deserve him. But part of his heart would always belong to her and I hated her for it. She must have picked up on my animosity, because she became blunt very quickly.

“I don’t think you should see Jim. Harvey told me you were looking for him.”

“Yeah, to bring him his coffee.” I waved the cup for emphasis.

“But he hurt you-“

“So people keep saying, but I want to hear it from him Lee. I wanna hear his side of what happened, because no matter how many times I try to run over the scenario in my head, nothing makes sense. So if you could please step out of my-“

Lee cut my off my by grabbing my arm and pulling me into the autopsy room. A small bit of Jim’s coffee spilt on my wrist and I held my breath at the soft pain.

“What the hell?” I exclaimed.

“Look I really don’t think it’s in your best interest to talk to him.”

“And I really don’t think I asked. I’m not a baby Lee, I can take care of myself. Grab me like that again you’re gonna be the one laying on that table.”

I motioned to the unfortunate soul who was splayed open on the cold metal.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Are you gonna touch me without my consent again? Cause I can get you for harassment and assault…”

“You’re being defensive.”

“You cornered me.”

Lee stepped to the side and I pushed open the door, glaring back at her. That’s when I ran into someone. Jim.

“What the hell?“ I heard him mutter.

“Omg Jim I’m so sorry.”

His whole body stiffened when he heard my voice. I cringed. I was yet again grabbed by my arm and dragged into a side room, but this time I didn’t much care. I stumbled a little bit Jim steadied me, realising he had been too rough.

“So first you accuse me of sexually assaulting you, and now you spill hot coffee on me?” He says, sounding annoyed.

“Jim I didn’t-“

“What, you didn’t tell Harvey that you didn’t remember anything from that night?”

“I did tell him that, but I didn’t know that was the conclusion he would reach. I didn’t know he would run with it! Jim I didn’t mean for any of this to happen you have to believe me.”

“Why didn’t you just talk to me?” He sighed.

“Am I not I doing that right now?”

I could feel tears spilling from my eyes and I frustratedly wiped them away. I felt like a child, it was so stupid to be crying. Jim was hesitant to touch me, that much was obvious.

“So you really don’t remember?” He said softly.

“I’m so sorry. Trust me, don’t you think I’d want to? I was dreaming of that moment since the day we met. And now I’ve gone and ruined everything cause I have this stupid memory problem.”

“Memory problem?”

“Since I was younger. Ollie, my- my brother, he says I lose time. And no matter how had I try I can’t get it back. Therapy doesn’t help, meds don’t help, it’s just gone. And I hate it so much. You must hate me.”

“I could never hate you Magnolia. I just, I really wish you came to talk to me sooner. Or maybe I should have come to you. Look, things will work out with time, but maybe for the time being it would be a good idea if we aren’t seen with each other.”

“Oh.” I choked out. “Ok.”

I ran out of the room, leaving Jim in my wake. I’m not sure how I expected this conversation to go, but it certainly wasn’t this. I hated this, I hated not knowing what was happening, not understanding my feelings. Everything felt broken. Before I knew it my legs dragged me to the Gotham cemetery of all places.

But I had to admit, it was quite peaceful. Not many people wasted their time in the cemetery, and at least I knew nobody would come looking for me here. So I walked to the corner of the lot and leaned against the fence, pulling out my backpack. I took out the book Bruce had gifted me, and quickly got lost in my own world. It felt nice to just turn my brain off for a while. That was, until I heard crying.

I tried to ignore it and just mind my own business, of course people would cry in a cemetery. I didn’t want to interrupt anything going on, that would be rude. But the utterance of a certain name caught my attention.

“Oh Alice, my sweet Alice, these roses I’ve painted red just for you. The white rabbits still hoping, the clock is still tocking, tomorrow i start a new.”

“Alice?” I questioned. A little louder than I meant to.

I hid my face behind my book when I could sense he would turn my way. I didn’t want to be caught staring, when Is hardly even gotten a glance. When he didn’t say anything, I assumed it was safe to move on as if I’d said nothing, but I was wrong. When I dropped the book, the man was right before me. I jumped slightly, dropping my copy of Alice In wonderland, but he caught it before it could hit the dirt. His gaze was intense, but I couldn’t seem to avoid its severity. The stranger was the first to break the silence.

“There is a place like no place on Earth. A land full of wonder, mystery, and danger. Some say to survive it, you need to be as mad as a hatter. Which, luckily, I am.” He spoke effortlessly.

“A hatter is only as mad as the head on his shoulders Mr….” I responded sceptically.

He broke into a smile.

“My apologies! The names Jervis Tetch, and what May your name be?” He bowed, gradually handing me my book and offering me a hand up.

I took his hand, it was softer than I expected it to be.

“Magnolia Blossom, but you can call me Maggie.”

“Maggie, like a Magpie?”

I looked at him incredulously.

“That’s what my brother calls me, yes.” I narrowed my eyes at Jervis. “And I suppose they call you The Hatter?”

He was dressed like one, and living in Gotham has taught me many thing, but I’ve grown used to expecting the theatrical. Everyone had a Persona, and I couldn’t tell his his first was Mad, or Jervis.

“Right you are little Magpie! Tell me, why is a Raven like a writing desk?”

“You haven’t the slightest idea.” I responded boldly.

An endearing smile crept onto his face. He must not have expected me to continue with my answer, because his face lit up even more if possible.

“But I suppose, it’s because they can produce a few note, though they are very flat; and it is never put with the wrong end in the front.”

He jumped up and down clapping!

“Spectacular, we’ll done! Well don’t my dear! Here, have a rose!”

He handed me one of the roses from the grave he was previously at.

“This is a Rosa alba.” I muttered, I didn’t think it was loud enough for him to hear.

“How could you tell?”

“Because Im a florist, I can always tell when a flowers been tampered with Mr. Tetch.”

“What a wonderful brain you have my sweet little songbird. I’ll be see you around, be carful not to fall down any Rabbit holes now.” He mused.

Before I could ask what he meant by that he was gone. God I hated when they did that. Ivy was good at it, Tabitha was great at it, and Y/N, fuck she was the best. I don’t know how they could just vanish without a trace. Even my own brother was good at it. Maybe it was a skill I’d have to learn if I wanted to stay in Gotham a little longer.

But skill building would have to wait, nightfall was coming and I was sure Oswald would blow a gasket if he didn’t see me by dawn. So begrudgingly I packed up my things and made my way back to the mansion. I hide the rose in my bag, not wanting Oswald to question me about it. I couldn’t risk upsetting him more than I already had. But thoughts of my new acquaintance plagued my mind on the journey home. What even would my rabbit hole look like?

An: I’m so sorry this took so long to write. I could have written more but my minds kinda blank right now. But I’ll have more ideas soon and the next chapter will be even better!

#gotham oc #magnolia blossom #gotham #maggie #victor zsasz #gotham imagine #jim gordon x reader #jervis tetch #the mad hatter #alice in wonderland #through the looking glass

[weaselbeaselpants]

Weird week behind me weird week ahead of me but I’ve done a lot of self reflection and came to the weirdest epiphany. The older I get the more I realize all my ‘problems’ with VivziePop - her thoughts on criticism;  the choices she makes in story telling; some of the people she’s worked with (not that any of that’s my business; I’m not her mom) really aren’t about Viv, but more about her fandom.

I’m speaking of the preHazbin era Viv here and as someone who’s only watch horny fish jump at the surface rather than jump straight into the Hazbin-fandom, but given my ‘noncritical’ fellow fans have told me that the Vivziefandom now is also terrible - I guess I’ll go over my experience and make the most out of what I do know.

I followed Viv in 2009 and fell off in 2013 cause I kinda just lost interest and found myself wrapped up in other fandoms. I’ve always felt amicable about her content; I could give or take designs or the way in which she wrote characters -- ((Zech represent!!!)) but it’s honestly surreal and really fun seeing this person I recognize make it big and improve so much. Like I’ve said before I am very happy and very impressed with Viv doing all she’s done in the span of TWO YEARS. wow gurl.

Trouble is, there was the particular breed of fan who really made me...uncomfortable. They felt almost possessive of Viv’s attention. They sang praises about her work in a way that just made me want nothing to do with it because I was worried if I drew those characters these people would be like ‘hey, I’M Viv’s fav artist, not you!”. They would  unironically write Viv messages like:

“you are a GOD” -- “I’m so not worthy compared to you” --“I wish I was as talented as you” -- “YOU ARE EVERYTHING AND CAN’T DO WRONG VIV”.

The kind of messages which were meant to sound flattering but, intentional or not, came off as gaslighting, like they were guilt tripping Viv about being better than them. This behavior, treating your favorite artist/internet personality like your superior and groveling like Starscream, it strikes a nerve with me; partly because I was this way with my favorite artists and influences back in the day,  but also because once I got a taste of that treatment myself I realized just how bad it could be:

There was once a girl on dA who was jealous of me because of the attention I got on my art instead of her. I told her that I wasn’t gonna stop drawing but also that there was nothing wrong with her art and she’d find her place. It was weird being put in that position where someone is very clearly upset at you but also looking for your approval.

The second was some scumball who I blocked in 2016. He wouldn’t speak to me, only write condescending, backhanded comments on my art; check on my profile daily; call me a bootlicker (cuz I took commissions) behind my back; redrew my art and would talk about me in his personal artist notes about how I ‘probably wouldn’t see this’ - oh yeah all the while he did fan art of my characters but again never spoke to me when I replied. When I finally messaged him about his behavior he said he thought I was “really overrated” and “bad for the fandom” cuz I took money and kept him from getting the love he deserved. It took messaging another person within our fandom, one I had been in spats with online before, to finally realize I shouldn't put up with that bs....

That guy who was stalking me btw did so while I was well under 1.K watchers and am still pretty obscure. Anyway, I had one guy unhealthily watching me for the wrong reasons. Just one. This is why when Viv says she “hates creeps” I 150% believe this woman and am not about to call her a liar who just can’t take criticism. Like, if you really think that, I’m sorry but you don’t know what Viv’s gone through from both her critics AND fans.

Of course, a lot of people will be like “I bet you’re just jealous and really just want that kind of attention yourself so you’re preaching to the choir”, but like...no. I am envious of just about any creator who’s the social butterfly I’m not, but, like, if I'm jealous of an artist none of that is that artists’ fault. Ever. It’s my own issues with being comfortable with myself are at stake. If I criticize Viv’s work it’s not because I see her as competition or my Squilliam Fancyson; it’s because I’m a critical fan of animation and cartoons and have my own thoughts to share on the cartoons of an artist I’m familiar with.  Jealousy/envy/mixed-admiration/godIwishthatwereme.jpeg feels are totally natural and valid emotions when you’re a creator. Envy becomes a problem when you internalize, weaponize, and scrutinize people on the basis of them being what you aren’t which -yes - some people do in the name of criticism. ((Although, I would hardly say some of the nastiest AntiViv folk are jealous as much as they are angry that this project they think is harmful is getting attention and using that as justification for some really shitty behavior of their own, which no, this post is not a part of by virtue of coming from a critical fan.))

Critique can come from either a good place or bad place; good critique can be used to bad ends and bad critique can come from a well-meaning place, and vice versa.   It’s the difference between many a criticalfan having a sour taste in their mouth regarding the Viv’s base but persisting in a critique+admiration separate of that, and this asswipemonster trying to weasel his way into Spindlehorse while also bashing Viv on a public forum for clearly vitriolic reasons. He was a creep.

So yeah um please stop insisting that every Hazbin critic is just jealous’ because a) there are people who have a past with Viv’s base and that clouds their judgement, but in a lot of cases that doesn’t invalidate their feelings or thoughts on her work separate from that, and b) I’ve seen what clingy gaslighting jealous fans are. Spoiler: they’re not so much Annie Wilkes as much as they are Tommy Wiseaus. You don’t want Tommy Wiseau following you.

Another bad vibe I really picked up on that I can kinda confirm is still probably the case now: people think that they know Viv and the Spindlehorse crew and have the right to send them shit they don’t need or WANT to be seeing.

Like, I talked with Viv once ages ago. I don’t remember what I said other than we were talking about Frankenweenie, I think. She was nice. Outside of that she said “thank you” to my comments on her deviations but that’s it. I DO NOT KNOW THIS WOMAN AND unless you’ve worked with or are a legit friend/mutual of hers, NEITHER DO YOU. But I don’t think every Vivzie stan/critic knows this. Whether it be people assuming she MUST think they’re headcanon is now canon-canon cuz she liked a comment they made; or some critic thinking they must have seriously hurt her pride because they’ve been blocked by her on twitter (or you know, maybe she and the rest of Spindlehorse is tired of getting @s and don’t have to time to read through your analysis so they’re gonna just block and move on cuz they’re busy).

Just because the creators talk with fans doesn’t mean fans are literally their best friends and have a part in the show’s direction. And yes, critics and reviewers fit that bill as well. Know your damn boundaries people.

If you find/make some kind of contribution as a viewer that’s awesome but you should never expect nor DEMAND the creator see it. The most obvious horror stories involving this and Helluva/Hazbin have been the Instagrams made by the crew being harassed by incestpedo enthusiasts, but it applies even to just @ing creators as well.

I’ve seriously had someone tell me to just take my criticisms directly to Viv and like...no. Why would I do that?

I respect Viv and the artists working with her enough to know that they’re working their asses off on an animated series and should not be bothered. I don’t want them to stop all they’re doing and reply to me. I want them to keep working. Also, that kind of logic makes me wonder how many critics Viv’s found because she found it on her own or if some obsessed fan told her about it - which is really messed up cuz if it IS just good critique you’re, again, just pestering her, and if it wasn’t critique but full on harassment WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU MESSAGE HER ABOUT THAT ANYWAY? I’m sure she doesn’t need to be reminded that people drew and said really awful shit about her on Tapatalk. My point being I’m sure what people think they’re doing is

“OOOoh Viv lookitwut this person is doing in our fandom we need to ban together against this toxic behavior”

but what they’re actually doing, and sounding like, is -

“Hey Viv I know you are working so hard on the show and you’re trying to figure out where to go from here but LOOKITWHUTTHISHATERSAID. LOOKATIT! VALIDATE ME VIV AND PUT’EM IN THEIR PLAAAAAACE!”

TL;DR Viv’s fanbase back in the day consisted of everyman artists and interests but there was this one breed of fan -who I hope was just a vocal minority- that ruined it for everything else.

Call it stanning or ‘simping’ or as it’s classically known, ‘white knighting’, whatever it was it really soured a lot of people on her because of those fans.

That’s why the DollCreep drama got so bad from what I can tell. Doll and Viv had a falling out and then called out eachother online where people who took it upon themselves to speak for them starting throwing mud.

Back in the day I remember Viv used to get mad at artists for ‘stealing’ her style. I think this attitude from Viv directly has vanished but I remember it happening because one of the people she thought was stealing her style did art for me at some point and they were basically shamed/chased off deviantART by a gaggle of these really nasty Vivfans.

inb4> “VIV WAS AWARE AND STILL WEAPONIZES HER FANS THO”

I don’t know that. And honestly, where I’m inclined to believe she’d do something like that then I think Viv is really different and has improved her business and public image from her college days. I’d be very disappointed in her if she was pulling a Butch Hartman or Derek Savage, but I just don’t think she is one, k?

Viv is more self critical and aware than any of these uber protective-gatekeeping fans give her credit for. She said on the Pizzapartypodcast that she knows the Hazbin pilot wasn’t perfect; she’s been able to identify the problems with old Zoophobia; this woman knows that criticism of all kinds need to exist and from what I see she sounds like she’s trying to get used to that. It’s just, you know, when you have nasty antis badgering you, stalkers, obsessive yes-mam’ fans, opinionated shit posters, r34 artists, entitled shippers and the NDAs of a company alongside your own branded image - all that negativity, even the constructive bits, tend to clump together and you just want to scream at it so you can finish the damn cartoon already!!!!

TL;DR: PART TWO

VivziePop/mind is basically indie Tim Burton.  Her work is fun, shallow and made with love but is marketed as being for everyone when it’s really not. Parts of it I love to watch; parts of it drives me crazy cuz of reasonswhatev this isn’t a review.

BUT any fanbase where people tell me I should just “expect what’s coming to me” when I’m trying to argue against dragging creators into fandrama is troubling. People have a parasocial bond with fandoms and their creators and they need to learn when to back off.

#vivziepop critical #hazbin hotel critical #helluva boss critical #critical fandom #I'm sorry to all the people I messaged n bothered over the past year bout my stupid thoughts #tw: stalker

[aclosetfan]

I’m working on a few prompt request but I wrote something really stupid and wanted to share! It’s a very short drabble and not meant to be taken seriously, but if anyone takes any issue or believes it’s in bad taste/insensitive plz let me know! More below the cut! 

—————

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Brick smirked.

“You three want to tell us what you’re doing back here?” Blossom sneered, hand on her hips, looking all kinds of righteous fury.

Brick shrugged and looked between his brothers before answering, “Nahhh.” He snuck another glance at Buttercup and asked, “So what’s new, hmm?”

“Cut to the chase, Brick. What the hell do you want?” Bloss hissed, and he threw up his hands.

“Ooo,” Boomer snickered, also glancing over at Buttercup, assessing their new haircut and choice of superhero uniform, “someone’s crankyyy.”

“Hey, hey,” Brick placated his counterpart, “come on. I’m being honest. It’s been, like, what, three years. Has it been three years, Butch?”

“Just about.” Butch nodded with a smile, never once taking his eyes off the...other person in green. He was acting cocky, rubbing it in all their faces because he had been the first to call it.

But Brick still wasn’t going to assume anything.

“I think it’s only fair we get reacquainted!” He suggested with an easy smile.

Blossom’s face twisted, but before she could retort, he pointed to himself, “I’ll start. Hi, my name’s Brick, him/they, thanks, same as last time.”

Then he pointed to Blossom, whose eyes went wide with comprehension before she crossed her arms over her chest with a sigh, “Hi, I’m Blossom, she/they, same as last time.”

He looked at Boomer, who smiled wide, “I’m Boom. He/Him!”

A nod to Bubbles, and she beamed at them all, curtsying cutely as she reintroduced herself, “Bubbles, and I prefer she/hers!”

Brick smiled, “Hey, Bubs. Butch?”

“The name’s Butch, and I literally don’t give a shit.” He leaned forward towards his counterpart, “What about you?”

Buttercup sighed, slapping a hand to their face as they muttered and cursed under their breath. Buttercup’s cheeks stained a dark, dark red that Brick could plainly see despite the way Buttercup covered their face.

“Fuck, fine.” Buttercup sighed, dropping their hand and waving, “Hi, I’m Bud...” The three of them leaned forward in eager anticipation as Bubbles and Blossom giggled. “...and, yeah, he/him, thanks.”

“OHHHHHH!” The three of them cried in unison, “ OHHHHH!”

“I fucking called it!” Butch cried, pointing at them as Brick excepted one of Boomer’s high fives, “I fucking told you!”

“We fucking got you!” Boomer jabbed at Bud, “You’re one of us!”

“No, I’m not.” Bud put his head in his hands with a groan.

“He so is.” Brick nodded, turning to Blossom, “How much more proof do you need now, huh, that ruffs are better than puffs; your brother literally just decided for you.”

“I told all of you!” Butch boosted, pointing to the whole group, and then to Bud, “You should have just listened to me from the start!”

“It wasn’t your decision to make!” Bud snapped at his counterpart, but the three of them ignored the other boy. 

“One of us!” Boomer started to chant, and he and Butch quickly followed suit, “One of us! One of us!” They bounced around in place, celebrating before heading over to surround Bud.

“We’re going to have to get him a corresponding uniform.” Brick nodded, circling the other boy.

“I think I’ve got some shit that doesn’t fit anymore.” Butch offered, clapping Bud on the shoulder.

“It’ll have to do, but we can’t have people confusing the two of you.” Brick nodded.

“Say,” Boomer asked, “Bud, what do you think about the color orange?”

“He can’t be orange!” Butch argued.

“I can’t believe this is how defeating the PowerPuffs would go,” Brick muttered to himself as his brothers bickered about color schemes, “A whole new person to boss around without a single homicide!”

“Hey!” A hand reached into their huddle and snatched Bud by the collar, pulling him away, “You don’t get him! He’s still one of us, like it or not!”

Brick blinked and looked back at Blossom and Bubbles, who both protectively encircled a very flustered Bud up in a hug.

Bubbles stuck her tongue out at them, “Hands off, boys! We had him first!”

“Suuuure.” Brick drawled with a wink, “We’ll let you say your goodbyes, Bud, no problem, we can do that. It’s the least we can do, right, guys? Put ‘em down gently though, Bud. They’re sensitive,” He sighed, rolling his eyes.

Butch nodded, floating into the air, “Gotta find all my old stuff anyway, so this will buy me some time.”

“I gotta tell—Does Mojo know? HIM?” Brick asked.

“Uh, y-yeah?” Bub stammered.

“Cool, gotta tell them we need to find a bigger place to crash. And an extra place at the table for dinner tonight. Yeah, yeah,” He nodded to himself as he decided their next course of action, snapping a few times to get his brothers collective attention, “Butch, go find your shit! Come on, Boom, you’re with me! We’ve got to change the dinner reservations.”

Boomer nodded, taking off into the air after them, but not before winking at Bud, miming a telephone to his ear.

’Call us,’ he mouthed.

“He’s not a Ruff!” Blossom cried out after them, “That’s not what this means!”

Bubbles followed shortly after, “You can’t have him!”

“B-bye?” Bud awkwardly sounded off, watching three streaks of light fade into the distance. Turning to his sisters, he frowned, “Did—did that just...Am I having dinner with Mojo and HIM tonight?”

#I can’t imagine a world where the boys would be homophobic #I think HIM would do them better then that #but they do see Bud and immediately think brother??? Brother!!!! 🥳🥳 #also I happily imagine a world where Butch gives Bud his hand-me-downs regardless of Ruff status #and this flusters the hell out of Bud #in this au I like to think the greens still crush on each other hard #Trans Buttercup! #I call him Bud lol there’s a post about it #top surgery recovery ends up being a whole thing and Buds like can all of you PLZ fuck off #yeah I’m also here for the reds being she/theys and he/theys #ppg fic drabble #my writing #just realized I typed homophobic instead of transphobic like an idiot

[feralhogs]

Questions 1, 2, skip a few, 99 100! ANSWER THEM ALL!!!!!!

LETS DO THIS

99 gay-ish asks

how tall are you?5 SOMETHING

what is your body type?SLENDERMAN

what is your favorite part about your body?THE T

is your current hair color your natural hair color?YES

are you more outgoing or more shy?SHY

are you more femme or butch?ITS COMPLICATED, BUT, BUTCH

are you tol or smol?APPARENTLY IM TWINK. NOT SURE WHERE THAT IS ON THIS SCALE

wine mom or vodka aunt?NO

weird habit?I EAT BREAKFAST FOOD AT ANY HOUR

favorite meme?VIBE CHECK, IM SMUG ABOUT MY URL

do you sing in the shower?NO BUT I USED TO. JUST SHY ABOUT ROOMMATES. I DO IN MY CAR

ever used a bow and arrow?NO, BUT MY BROTHER DESIGNED AND BUILT ONE, GOT IN TROUBLE FOR MAKING A WEAPON

are/were you a theatre kid?IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE WHERE IM ALLOWED TO HAVE AN EGO, YES

have you ever seen a broadway musical?NO

do you think musicals are cheesy?NO I THINK THEYRE JUST A MEDIUM OF ART

have you ever been a part of a protest or a march?NO WEIRDLY

favorite Cards Against Humanity Card?IDK THEM

last movie you watched?PROBABLY MEGEAMIND

behind the camera or in front of it?BEHIND. BUT BOTH IS GOOD

favorite tv show?AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER

meaning behind your urlTHE ACTUAL REASON IS IT REMINDS ME I CAN TRUST MY INTUITION

reason you joined tumblrA CRUSH WROTE IN MY YEARBOOK I SHOULD GET IT. DONT WRITE THAT IN PEOPLES YEARBOOKS

who’s your closest tumblr friend?THE PERSON ASKING ME 99 QUESTIONS

what’s something most people love that you hate?TACOS AT WORK. THEYRE POPULAR OF COURSE. I MAY NOT KNOW MY TACOS, BUT PLAIN RAW CABBAGE ON THEM MAKES ME DOUBT

have you ever taken narcotics?NO

have you had sex?NO

have you ever gotten caught sneaking out or doing anything bad?I DONT GET CAUGHT!!!! IM SO SNEAKY… AND TRAUMATIZED. I ONLY GOT CAUGHT WHEN PEOPLE WERE LIKE, HUNTING ME. NOT FAIR. ALSO HOW DO YOU “GET CAUGHT” FOR DOING NORMAL THINGS LIKE READING AND HAVING CLOTHES

worst/funniest lie you’ve ever told?PROBABLY THE REASSURING CHRISTIAN VALUES THINGS I TOLD MY PARENTS TO GET MY BIRTH CERTIFICATE. IT WAS THE FUNNIEST BECAUSE FOR SOMEONE INCONVENIENTLY TRUTHFUL, THAT WAS SOME PRETTY HARDCORE LYING IN A RIDICULOUS SITUATION, AND THE WORST BECAUSE WHAT A HORRIBLE THING TO HAVE TO DO. IT WAS HORRIBLE BECAUSE I WAS SO CONVINCING BECAUSE I MIXED IT WITH THE TRUTH I COULD SINCERELY EXPRESS

describe your passion without mentioning it.HEY GUYS IM WRITING CHAPTER 1 AGAIN I THINK I FIGURED IT OUT THIS TIME

describe your best friend.WARM STRONG RESILIENT UNCONDITIONALLY LOVING KINDLY HONEST CREATIVE TALENTED BRAVE HARDWORKING BEAUTIFUL ORIGINAL NURTURING SELF CONFIDENT

give us one thing about you that no one knows.NO ONE KNOWS THE GRITTY DETAILS OF SOME SAD MOMENTS IN MY PAST. DID YOU KNOW I HATE THE SMELL OF HOSPITAL FOOD FROM WHEN I VISITED A FAMILY MEMBER IN A PSYCH WARD

how do you feel right now?GOOD, I SHOULD PROBABLY GO TO BED THOUGH

what is your biggest fear?BREAKING SELF HARM STREAK

what’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?SING A SONG EARTH WIND AND FIRE

what is the best decision you’ve made in your life so far?LEAVING MY PARENTS. ITS TAKEN ME AGES TO UNLEARN SO MUCH SELF-DEFEATING STUFF

have you ever tried your hardest and then been disappointed in the end?MOSTLY EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE BUT IM CHILL

something you fantasize about.ACTUALLY DANCING TO MUSIC I LIKE. I NEVER LEARNED HOW TO DANCE BUT I WANT TO SFM

last time you cried and whyTHAT PREACHER GUY IN LUCIFER. IT SUCKED BUT IM SO BLOWN AWAY BY LUCIFERS ANGRY YELLING AT THE SKY. WHAT A GIANT MOOD

what was the last thing that made you laugh?MY SISTER ASKING ME WHAT DILF MEANT

do you really, truly miss someone right now?NO. IF I MISS SOMEONE, ITS A SIGN THEY WERE A BAG OF DICKS TO ME AND MESSED UP MY INNER CLARITY

who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything?YOU

the last time you felt broken?WHEN MY TWO FRIENDS AT THE TIME GANGED UP ON ME AND ABANDONED ME AT A NOT PRETTY TIME IN MY LIFE. I COULDNT EAT WHICH AND I STILL STRUGGLE WITH EATING, I NEVER USED TO

are you starting to realize anything?THAT IF I RELY ON MY LIFE EXPERIENCE, ILL EXPECT TO FAIL AND SABOTAGE MYSELF, AND INSTEAD I NEED TO TAKE RISKS AND PUT FAITH IN MY FUTURE.

are you more dominant or more submissive?THERES EVIDENCE FOR BOTH, BUT I THINK THE LATTER IS JUST FROM ABUSE AND GIRL RULES

i’ll only date you if _____. (fill in the blank)WASH YOUR HANDS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

do you prefer to date people the same age as you, younger, or older?AROUND MY AGE THERE IS SOME UNDERSTANDING

describe the person you’re in love with/have a crush on in great detail.IM NOT IN LOVE I DONT EVEN HAVE A CRUSH. I MAY HAVE A SQUISH

do you have any kinks?MAYBE SO

first thing you notice in a person?HOW THEY HANDLE STRESS AND PROBLEMS, IF THEY BLAME/GET ANGRY, OR IF THEY ARE COMPASSIONATE AND PATIENT. LOOKING FOR RED FLAGS

how can someone win your heart?FOOD. CHEESECAKE WAS A POWER MOVE. BONDING… OVER FOOD. I HAVE HAPPY MEMORIES ATTACHED TO BEVERAGES.

been rejected by a crush?YES

have you ever had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back?YES

would you have sex with the last person you text messaged?NO

is trust a big issue for you?YES

did you hang out with the person you like recently?NO

is confidence cute?YES, SELF LOVE LOOKS GOOD ON PEOPLE

what would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy?GOOD FOR THEM. I DONT LIKE ANYONE RIGHT NOW

would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh?NO. GIGGLING LIKE A LUNATIC IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE AND YOU NEED TO KEEP UP

does the person you have feelings for right now know you do?IF THEYRE FEELINGS, PROBABLY, BECAUSE IM TRANSPARENT

ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush?IVE HAD MY EMBARRASSMENT GLANDS REMOVED FOR MY FTM TRANSITION

do you want to get marriedYEAH WHEN IM FIFTY THEN ILL GET A BUNCH OF DOGS AND CATS AND CHICKENS

worst thing you’ve ever done?APPARENTLY IVE BORROWED BOOKS AND NEVER RETURNED THEM

three things that turn you on.IM GOING THRU PUBERTY 2, TEENAGE BOY EDITION, IT DOESNT TAKE MUCH

who do you hate?I DONT LIKE SUCH SIMPLE CATEGORIES, BUT I START TO FEEL HATRED WITH REPEATED CRUELTY/WHEN SOMEONE REFUSES TO HEAR ME

favorite term of endearment?MY FRIEND

who was your celebrity/fictional gay awakening?I DIDNT REALLY HAVE TVS/POP CULTURE GROWING UP LIKE MOST PEOPLE, PROBABLY FOUND IT IN CREATIVE WRITING

intimidating girls or kind girls?KIND

what do you look for in a possible partner?EQUALITY

do you tend to like more masculine, feminine, or androgynous girls?YES

are you good at flirting?PERHAPS. WHEN IM NOT THINKING ABOUT IT

who was the first person you came out to?I DONT ACTUALLY REMEMBER. A HIGH SCHOOL FRIEND. IT WAS A STRESSFUL COMPLICATED TIME, MY WORLD WAS UPSIDE DOWN, IT WAS GRADUAL

do you have any friends who are wlw?PROBABLY

is your crush wlw?IDK

last person to make you reconsider your sexuality?A DOUCHE CANOE UNFORTUNATELY

write a short love poem to your crush/self?DEAR PERSON,THANK YOU FOR THE CHEESECAKEIT WAS SO GOODBUT ONLY BECAUSE IT WAS FROM YOU

do you fall in love easily?NO. I WISH I DID. I COULD USE THE HIGH TO GET STUFF DONE

is there something that happened in your past that you hate talking about?I HATE TALKING ABOUT THINGS THAT MAKE ME FEEL HUMILIATED AND ASHAMED, SO I JUST DONT. I ALSO HATE TALKING ABOUT SELF HARM BECAUSE I NEVER KNOW HOW. AM I GOING TO TRIGGER PEOPLE? AND IT IS SHROUDED IN SHAME AND FEAR.

are you good at hiding your feelings?YES, WHEN I CONSCIOUSLY MAKE AN EFFORT TO

are you a forgiving person?NO. I USED TO BE ALL ABOUT FORGIVENESS, AND GREW UP FORGIVING ABUSIVE CYCLES, IT WAS SO UNHEALTHY. NOW I FEEL LIKE A CROW HOLDING GRUDGES FOR CENTURIES, AND I DONT WANT TO BE BITTER EITHER – I OFTEN FEEL BAD FOR NOT FORGIVING, EVEN IF ITS JUST FORGIVENESS FOR MY OWN SAKE. BUT ITS A NEW DEVELOPMENT THAT IM ALLOWING MYSELF TO FEEL ANGRY, BE TRUTHFUL ABOUT BEING WRONGED, WANT JUSTICE FOR MYSELF. AND MAYBE SOME THINGS SHOULDNT BE FORGIVEN.

what is your “type?”I DONT KNOW. I RECENTLY STARTED GROWING SOME SELF WORTH, AND I DONT THINK THE PEOPLE IVE SOUGHT OUT TO RELIVE MY PAIN COUNTS

fall asleep in her arms or rub her back until she falls asleep in yours?LAST ONE

tall girls or short girls?BOTH IS GOOD

hugs or kisses?HUGS

twirl her around or get twirled?I WANNA TWIRL PEOPLE

tummy kisses or thigh kisses?BOTH

hairline kisses or neck kisses?NECK

play with her hair or stroke her tummy?PLAYING WITH HAIR

making out or soft kisses?MAKING OUT

hugs around the neck or hugs around the waist?WAIST

how confident are you in your sexuality?I THINK PEOPLE WOULD ASSUME IM NOT. IM SHY, AND MY NERDY CHRISTIAN VIBE ISNT GOING ANYWHERE. IM ALSO JUST BEGINNING TO LIVE AS MYSELF AND IM RELEARNING EVERYTHING. BUT WHEN IT COMES TO REALLY KNOWING MYSELF IM CONFIDENT

when you like someone do you blush or get butterflies in your stomach?NO. I WILL START CRANKING OUT ART AND FOCUS LESS THAN USUAL

have you ever liked a friend as more than a friend? did you tell them?YES

how old were you when you realized you were into girls?20ISH BUT THE SIGNS WERE THERE LONG BEFORE

most embarrassing thing you’ve done in front of a cute girl?I GOT MY EMBARRASSMENT GLANDS REMOVED REMEMBER

do you have a favorite lesbian ship? is it canon?I DONT KNOW MANY BUT IM HAPPY FOR THE CANON MARCELINE AND BUBBLEGUM

what is the most aggravating thing someone has said to you about your sexuality?MY SISTER PROJECTING ABOUT HER LIFE. WE HAVE CONSERVATIVE MISOGYNIST PARENTS BUT WE ARE VERY DIFFERENT PEOPLE AND IT DID NOT AFFECT US IN THE SAME WAY

when was the last time a girl made your heart flutter?I FEEL LIKE IM FORGETTING SOMETHING NICE A STRANGER SAID ONCE

what is love to you?NOT SOMETHING YOU DISPENSE AT YOUR CONVENIENCE. ITS A WAY OF LIVING – IF YOU LOVE YOURSELF, YOU LOVE OTHER PEOPLE, AND YOU LOVE THE WORLD AROUND YOU AND TAKE CARE OF IT. ITS NEITHER FAWNING NOR CONTROL – ITS ACCEPTANCE

ask me anything.YOU DIDNT ASK ME ANYTHING SO IM JUST GOING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING. IVE BEEN EATING POPCORN CHICKEN WITH HONEY

#zee5tarbug #asks #chatty tag #I DID IT

[lokilover9]

The Slutty Webs one Weaves

Chapter 2

“Why would Loki do this to me?” Astrid whined, twirling her wedding ring around her finger. A large, oval, emerald surrounded by tiny diamonds, set in gold. 

She looked so forlorn, Stark actually felt for her. “Astrid, how many nights have you and Loki been apart since your courtship began?” 

It took her a minute to recall. “Three.” 

“And has there ever been a time you didn’t know his whereabouts?” 

More tears streamed down her face. “No, but you don't understand."

"Try me." 

"Is Vagina special to you?”

“Can't recall a time when it wasn't."

Astrid poked Peppers tit. "I meant this Vagina." 

'Someone failed anatomy class.' "She's my favorite."  

"And did you share your quim wedger all…" Astrid paused, spazily waving an arm. "...Willy nilly like, so bitches wrote filth about it?"

"I used it sparingly and no. Not to my knowledge." 

"Sure you did, playboy billionaire." Pepper dryly remarked.

His foot twitched, knocking over the open vodka bottle. "Weren't we discussing Loki?" 

Astrid started crying again. "Yes and I thought I was special to him, like he is to me."

{"I don't deserve you, my lovely."}

"Now after all this research, I don’t feel like I am anymore.”

{"You'll always be. Please don't cry?"}

Tony gave her some tissue. "I think you're wrong. When Thor told us of you, he mentioned how beautiful and..charming you are, but mostly of how happy you make his pain in the ass, brother." 

Astrid's face lit up. "He said that?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die." 

She gasped. "Why Cootyoodles? You can't die."

"Nooo, I don't actually want to."

"Good. Loki be sad."

"He would?" 

She nodded. "When every human hated him, you were sometimes nice. That's why you're his favorite."

{"He's going to have a field day with this."}

"I'm his favorite human?"

"Mm hm."

{"No gloating, Cootyoodles. Darling, do stop twirling your ring? It's dizzying."}

"Astrid. Midgard has millions of talented writers with creative imaginations. Some perverted, some not. Many could've developed crushes after seeing Loki on social media and their stories pure fantasy. Maybe 'pure' isn't the right word, but don't fret over them. Think of his past lovers as…" 

{"This better be good, Stark."}

"Fornication practice runs. " 

{Loki cackled. "Interesting choice of words. Your Vagina looks impressed."}

While Pepper gave Tony the stink eye, Astrid pondered his perspective. "That explains why he's such a beast in bed." Her thoughts drifted to other pleasurable memories. "Ohhh and his magical tongue."

{"Sinful little appendage isn't it?"}

"Once he…"

Tony interrupted her. "We'll take your word for it. My point is, Loki loves 'you' now." He winked at Pepper. "You're who he wants to share forever with and nothing will ever change that."

{It's true.}

The sloshed Asgardian nearly knocked him off the bed with a clumsy hug. "Thanks Iron Cootyoodles." Then she leaned back with a strange look on her face. "I don't feel so good."

Pepper swiftly dodge her projectile, but Stark wasn't so lucky. 

"Sorry!" 

When Astrid ran to the ensuite, he slipped in her vomit and spilled vodka, landing on his ass. "That's it! Time to suit up and drop her in the Hudson. Better yet, doesn't your dad own a Woodchipper?" 

Pepper smirked. "Shower and go back to bed. I'll deal with her." Eventually she joined him, assuming he was asleep.

"I've been thinking." 

"Tell me tomorrow." 

"Next time you 'are' pmsing, I'm going to call you bitchy vagina pants." 

She whacked him hard with a pillow. "'Night."

Tony pulled a small feather from his mouth. 'Or not, but Butch is definitely a keeper.'

When Astrid fell asleep, Loki muted the connection to her ring, went to his parents chambers and demanded Frigga be woken.

"Is something wrong, darling? It's terribly late." 

"Please Mother?"

One look from those saddened, emerald orbs and she caved. "I'll inform Heimdall. On one condition."

"Name it." 

"Should the answer to my question reveal itself a lie, Astrid will learn the truth behind a certain piece of jewelry she owns."

"Oh? What's wrong with it?" 

Frigga disappointedly sighed. "Your Father, the charlatan, tried the same trick with me. As a result, he paid interest to the spank bank for nearly a decade."

"Too much information, Mother."

"A plight we unfortunately share. These orgies you partook in on Midgard, did you wrap your Jonson before plunging it asunder?"

Loki froze. "What exactly did Astrid tell you?"

"Things too indecent to repeat." 

'Stupendous. My Mother thinks me a gigolo.' "The answer is yes. Although I'm immune to their S.T.D.'s. Are you worried I may have impregnated someone?" 

"Should I be?"

"I swear Mother, I took every precaution necessary."

"Good. Less chance of Astrid filleting your bullocks. I'll dress." 

"Certainly." 'Thanks for reminding me of that possibility once sobriety kicks in.'

*****

Tony, having misplaced his car keys, returned to his bar and discovered Loki behind it, pouring a whiskey. 

"There you are. Care to join me? Are you aware your ice bucket is missing."

Iron Cootyoodles wasn't impressed. "Haven't you heard of knocking?"

"On the elevator door? Next time I'll pause it first."

"Very funny. Are you ever going to reveal how you keep bypassing my security?" 

The God smirked. "Perhaps one day, but rest assured it's by means undisclosable. Did you miss me?"

Tony almost said about as much as he'd miss a rabid porcupine, but remembered what Astrid said. "You're tolerable in small doses. Explain undisclosable."

"Has it concerned you that much?"

"Meh, I've only spent days on my system, trying to figure it out. The most expensive security application money can buy, which I've changed the access codes for time and again, yet here you are."

"Tony…"

"Were others to breach it that easily, the material losses would mean nothing compared to Peppers safety being compromised, classified information falling into the wrong hands and how our enemies would utilize it, but hey. Prank away, God of Mischief. Have you seen a set of keys?"

Loki's smirk faded as he vanished them from the bars lower surface. "No, I haven't."

"I'll seek my spare. I'd say make yourself at home, but you always do. Pepper took Astrid shopping. Later." Stark pushed the elevator button and nothing happened. "Are you fucking with this too?"

"For good reason."

"If it means I avoid the stairs, let's have it. We are on the sixtieth floor."

"Tony, my bypasses merely are but pranks. Through the many we pulled on each other, I saw an opportunity to make a friend. Forgive my ignorance in not realizing they would frighten you." 

"Really, Loki? You never once considered that?" 

"No, because neither Pepper, or the Tower, were ever in danger. Nor do I know any of your access codes. Magic gained me entrance and subsequently locked everything back in place." 

"And the classified information?"

"I wouldn't know where to begin and haven't any desire to try."

"Oh. Maybe you're not such an asswipe after all." 

"I'm trying. In the future, I promise never to come unannounced again. Sound good?" 

"I'd appreciate that."

[sansy-fresh]

halp

It’s time for the Semi-Annual “Fresh is Never Leaving This Fandom!” fic idea tour! In which under the cut I’m going to talk about fics I’m currently working on and how much longer I expect them to be, as well as long fics I have ideas for and how lengthy I expect them to be in the long run. There’s gonna be probably spoilers so look away if you don’t wanna see them! Also this is really long so be prepared for that.

I’m also going to be discussing some of the mini series that people have funded recently, so there’s that lol

Anyways, ranting and rambling under the cut!! This is more or less a way to keep excited about some of my ideas and get some of you hyped as well ^^ (And also a way to assure anyone wondering “hey, fresh has been here for a while, are they ever leaving?” that the answer is no, apparently not)

Current Fics

Okay so I have around 5 long fics, 1 series, and 1 mini series I’m currently working on. They are as follows:

A Silver Chain: A fic about vampire Honey and polyruses with the other Paps being hunters. Is well on its way but needs re-done in a few places so its currently on hiatus.

Little Fangs: A fic about Dadby and older bro Papyrus with babybones and Badster. Is not even close to halfway done, depending on how far I end up going with the narrative. Might end up being one of the longest fics I write.

Moral Compass: A fic about assumed bad brothers and possible Blackcherry goodness. Is basically 3/4ths done at this point, isn’t meant to be a super long one. Was pretty much completely funded by @1readervb so shout out to them for being a super cool peep.

Hold Myself Together: A fic about Bad Bro Red and how Fell gets a better life. Just started, but based on how long the first iteration of this story was, I’d say this one will be a little longer than C&S ended up being. 

Garish: A fic about a Reader who ends up with the Swell bros as roommates. Might end up being both Reader/Swell bros and Reader/Fell bros, but I haven’t decided. Just started, might be a long one.

Bitter White Memory: A series about how Fell and Stretch get together based on an attempt to keep the Edgelord feeling safe. Only has two parts so far so nowhere near done. I’ve just been too busy to write the next part lol whoopsies

Cherries in Snow: A funded mini series about abused Red falling into Undertale, with Kustard and a little tiny helping of Cherryblossom. One chapter so far, but there should only be about five so it won’t take super long.

There’s also two more mini series that have been funded, but one I only have part of the info on and the other I have no info on, so they haven’t been started yet. (One of them is about Omega Paps in a A/B/O world so that’ll be fun ;;;))

Fics I want to Continue/Rewrite

This is a list I didn’t know I was adding until I was in the middle of making this post. There are a few fics I’ve started and then pretty much abandoned, or that I left behind because I no longer wanted to write them. They are:

The Reset Conundrum: A fic that I wrote a long time ago and never finished about Papyrus and Sans going through the Resets and various endings together, with a happy ending of course. It was a popular one, but I never finished it because I got bored with the idea. I was thinking about it recently and kind of wanted to revisit the idea. Its on this list because I might just do it.

The Ole Razzle Dazzle: A fic I started and then revamped as a fic about Razz and Slim and how they react to a pacifist Chara moving through the Underground. Kinda looking forward to this one, not going to lie.

Sparks and Wires: A fic that I started because of my love for the game D:BH and its androids. About Android Honey and his owner Fell, and how they fall in love. Basically self indulgent Spicyhoney lol

Long Fic Ideas

So just about once every other week I get a new fic idea, and if I like them enough (and can actually imagine myself writing them) I write them down in a doc. Now I’m going to talk about them all in as much detail as I have so ya’ll get comfy this is gonna be a long’n. (These are not up for adoption they are things I plan to write myself.)

The Great: A fic idea @badgertablet came up with and I helped round out. Ambassador Paps with a side of Polyruses and lots of angsty pining and hurt/comfort. Is going to be a longer fic, since there’s a lot of background stuff and quite a bit to set up. I’m really really looking forward to this one though, is going to be a gift for Badg (but shoosh no one tell them).

Family Portrait: A fic idea for Middle Bro Gaster with Paps and Sans. Basically going from Sans’ birth to Gaster falling into the Core to the kid saving everyone and Sans pulling Gaster back out of the Void. Is going to be super long, so probably won’t get to this one for a while lol

Scattered Pieces: A fic idea for a character getting bitties that helps their life out. Lots of angst and hurt/comfort, as each bitty has its own backstory of woe. One I’ve had planned for a while but haven’t been able to sit down a write.

A Concerted Effort: A fic idea where Fell and Stretch have a one night stand and Fell ends up pregnant. The two of them don’t get along super well most of the time so its not like he can tell him, right?? Another old idea I just haven’t started yet lol.

Itty Bitty Teenie Weenie: A fic idea where a different character gets some specialty bitties, ones that need a bit more help than others. In the same universe as Scattered Pieces, probably going to be written after that one.

Segregation: A fic idea that @nurse-gaster came up with that I adopted. Bledgeup in a world where Fell monsters and Tale monsters live on different sides of the fence, a literal fence in this case. Going to be a gift for Nurse when I start writing it lol.

Recovery: A fic idea where a personal character of mine fosters special needs bitties and ends up with one for himself. Is part of a two fic series. 

Caramelized Apples: A fic idea where my Caramel version of Slim ends up pregnant. I haven’t decided how yet, but its hurt/comfort and fluff, so no hard angst here!

Edgy but Smiling: A fic idea where an anxious Reader ends up with a Sansy and an Edgy who just want a good home. 

You Got Me All Fired Up: A fic idea with Sans/Dante (my UF Grillby). I don’t know I just really like Sans and Fellby together and I want to write a slowburn.

Harried and Torn: A fic idea about Spicykustardpuff with lots of angst and hurt/comfort and maybe some fluff along the way. A slowburn because I’m a masochist.

Nice To Eat’cha: A fic idea based on the Asian side of the fandom’s art of Farmer Sans/HT Sans. Won’t be farmer Sans, but it will be a slowburn of Sans and Butch learning how to not judge each other for their own sins.

Seen in Glorious Splendor: A fic idea I had earlier today actually. King Fell, with possible Edgepuff or Polyruses, I haven’t decided yet. My own take on how Fell takes over as King of the Underground from Asgore.

There are a lot of iterations of Skelebros/Reader I want to write, so I’m just throwing a blanket over them called “Eventually”. Them being namely Swap Bros/Reader, Tale Bros/Reader, a reverse harem in my style, HT Bros/Reader, and something just Papyrus/Reader (which Papyrus you ask? all.)

And my Magnum Opus, Safe House, will be the last fic I write for this fandom. So when I start posting that, you’ll know we’re nearing the end.

#fresh babbles #fic plans #long fic ideas #oneshot ideas #series ideas #fresh rants #spoilers #idk a lot of rambling #if i forgot a fic idea then ill just die i guess

[nhighttehrror-blog]

Chapter 11

[When Xcor comes in he has a small box with him, handing in over to Tohr. “Now son, the blood of Tohrture is in your blood but with him being dead for an over a hundred and fifty years. So, we are really confused by this development, Rhage mostly. We had Vishous and Butch go back to your place. And search your house. We found this in what we assumed was your mahmen’s room.” He hands it over.  “There are about twenty-six letters address to you.”  I take the box and put next to me.

When I look at Tohr before looking to Xcor as he speaks, “I can see that you are confused but this all. But hear me. Anha is off limits you are reckless and too hot headed.  We are having a chosen come to feed you. That may help with. I think you were having some blood lust the other day when you attacked Ehlena.”  I grimace.  “I never meant to hurt Ehlena. But I can’t promise you I can or will stay away from Anha, I don’t know why but she is ‘Mine’. Xcor takes his hand grabbing my throat and squeezing tight. “Those words don’t come out of your mouth. Do you hear me?”

He lets me go and storms out. Tohr shakes his head, “Listen to us. We know what we are talking about. Read your letters, and the King of our race, Wrath, you are meeting him tomorrow.” He leaves and I am sitting collecting my thoughts over everything.  I take the lid of the box off and pull out a few of the letters. I can see the date she wrote them starts with the day was born and every birthday with the final one happening the day of my transition. I find the earliest one, they day she had me.

“My dearest son,

Today, I survived what is often kills Mahmen’s from their young. And you survived.  My sweet baby boy, I wish your father was here. But he didn’t even know about you. I never once told him about you.

I was so stupid in love, and he was so handsome, but I was too shy to approach him. Until that night. He looked like a Greek model, but I knew better I knew he was a warrior for our society. The Black Dagger Brotherhood. When I am gone you need to find these warriors. They will help you… I hope.  I knew where he frequented so, I went there and just stared, I know stalker.

One night, I had felt off all day. My mahmen forbade me to go out, but I went out. That night, your father he was angry, and you could tell he was on edge.  I went to go to him and introduce myself to him. But I hurt I had made about a block from the ZeroSum went the needing hit me. I screamed with the pain. Before I knew it there, he was daggers drawn, I think he thought I was in trouble, I was but not in the way he thought.  I like to think my first time with anyone would have been special, but it wasn’t. He picked me up and found an abandoned building, He used me, and I used him. The liquor on his breath was all remember about the hours we spent. When he got up to leave. Is when I saw the most beautiful feature on him, it spanned his back, I have never seen a tattoo like that before. The dragon looked fierce just like the male himself.  As quick as he was there to help, he was gone. Dematerializing before I said thank you.   That night was gut wrecking that night lessers had also found my mahmen and father’s home. They broke in killing them. You would have loved them. They would’ve loved you.  I will tell you more things as birthdays come on about our race and everything that it entails. Love always, your Mahmen.

I sit there numb and in shock by what I just read, I know the truth, Rhage isn’t my half-brother. He is my father.]

[radfemetc]

When Bindels speak*

Fourteen years ago, in an opinion column in The Guardian provocatively entitled ‘Gender Benders, Beware’, lesbian feminist activist Julie Bindel wrote that:

“I don’t have a problem with men disposing of their genitals, but it does not make them women, in the same way that shoving a bit of vacuum hose down your 501s does not make you a man.”

I vaguely remember reading this at the time, slightly bemused both at the piece and then at the subsequent outraged public reaction to it. Fast forward to a few months ago, and I’ve just published some blog pieces which, though not reaching Bindelesque proportions, have proved moderately controversial in my discipline, academic philosophy. As I discuss and defend my views on social media, and watch others discuss them, the name of Julie Bindel comes up repeatedly, as an example of company which, it is presumed, I absolutely don’t want to keep. A well-established male philosopher intones repeatedly about Bindel’s ‘offensive, transphobic’ comments in the past. Another describes her to me as a ‘loopy extremist’, and ‘potty’. I go back to find the article online and rather disbelievingly check whether it’s the same one I vaguely remember. It is.

Now, to attempt to mitigate against such perceptions, which perhaps you share, I could tell you about Bindel’s frankly stunning track record of effective activism, working on behalf of natal women and girls world-wide with an energy and bravery which borders on heroic. I could tell you that the context of her Guardian piece was partly a discussion of an attempt by trans women Kimberley Nixon to sue Vancouver Rape Relief for not allowing her to work with traumatised natal women fleeing male sexual violence: a case which rumbled on for another three years before Nixon lost, costing the shelter thousands of dollars to defend against. I could point out that the idiom of the piece was clearly intended to be comic, colourful, and frank, and was pretty funny in several places; for instance:

“When I were a lass, new to feminism and lesbianism, I was among the brigade who would sit in the women’s disco wearing vegetarian shoes and staring in disbelief at the butch/femme couples, mainly because they were having a better time than me”.

I could tell you that even so, she later apologised ‘unreservedly’ for writing the article. I could point out that many of the things she says in the piece are prescient, and over time have only got more troubling: worries about how trans ideology often essentialises wholly sexist gender stereotypes about masculine and feminine behaviour; about the development of a culture apparently in favour of cutting off parts of healthy bodies if one is ‘unhappy with the constraints of .. gender’; and about the harmful implied message sent by this culture to butch lesbians and camp gay men. And I could also easily manifest the anger I felt, as I read these online comments from middle-class heterosexual males, typing smugly and contemptuously about one moment fourteen years ago in the life of a working-class lesbian, who has devoted most of the rest of that life to addressing issues such as child grooming, sex trafficking, prostitution, and cross-border surrogacy; doing activism in the field, and not just from the armchair.

But to cite these facts as exculpatory of Bindel would suggest that an ordinary woman who had said roughly the same thing as her– that is, that trans women aren’t, in fact, women — and yet who was not already a heroic feminist defender of natal women, or who wasn’t partly talking about an odiously selfish individual such as Nixon, would be at fault. I deny this too. That is, I reject the near-pathological zeal with which trans activists, ‘trans allies’, and ‘woke blokes’ generally, seek to monitor and control natal women’s language in this domain: not just with respect to discussing whether trans women are actually women, but also in uses of particular names and pronouns, and gender attributions.

The statement “transwomen are women” has become a kind of mantra for so-called progressives. To understand what it is meant by it, we need to distinguish the use of that phrase, in those mouths, from two other contexts. One of those involves a claim about the law. Since 2004, those in the UK with a Gender Recognition Certificate are counted as having had their gender ‘reassigned’. This is not, and was never intended to be, any pronouncement on a biological fact. It is in fact impossible for a child or adult to biologically change sex. (I’m prepared to offer arguments for this, if needed, but most readers will, I hope, accept it as true). Nor was this law supposed to pronounce definitively on the question of whether a trans woman with a GRC ‘really is’ a woman. The Gender Recognition Act was at most intended to allow for a legal status — that of ‘gender reassignment’ — for the purposes of access to certain protections under the law.

A second version of the claim “trans women are women” is uttered for therapeutic reasons. One basis for self-identifying as a trans person is the condition of gender dysphoria. It is assumed by many medical practitioners that, on diagnosis of this condition, treating a person ‘as if’ belonging to their self-identified gender is helpful to their well-being; whereas confronting them with their ‘birth-assigned’ gender, or the biological facts of their sex, is not. We might easily interpret this as a kind of benevolent role-playing or method-acting, extending from the medical practitioner out into the wider community: act as if a trans woman is a woman, in most social contexts. But this is completely compatible with denying that trans women really arewomen, in a more committed sense.

Somehow, though, in recent years, a respectful concern for the well-being of trans people has supposedly morphed into a literal claim about category membership: trans women really are women. That is: trans women belong unambiguously in the category of women; the concept of woman literally applies to them. For most trans activists, this is supposed to be true whether the trans woman is a post-operative transsexual, or a trans woman on hormones, or whether she belongs to the significant proportion of trans women who are neither. She ‘is’ a women, whether she transitioned in her teens, or in middle-age; whether thirty years ago, or yesterday. Moreover, for many trans activists, not only are trans women literally women, but if they have children, they can be mothers. If they have female partners, they can be lesbians. They can be victims of misogyny. And so on. One by one, the familiar words women have used to describe themselves tumble like a chain of dominoes.

Such claims are usually unargued-for. They are presented more as self-evident truths; the outcome of revelation, perhaps, or as some article of faith which it would be downright evil to try to deny or complicate. As this description suggests, agreement with such claims is ruthlessly socially enforced by trans activists. Not only are you not supposed to refer to or imply, in front of a trans person, any fact about their natally-bestowed gender or biological sex; you aren’t suppose to mention these, even in their absence. To do otherwise is sometimes called a form of ‘violence’. Even on a massive UK discussion forum like Mumsnet, in a thread about trans people written by gender-critical feminists and directed towards fellow gender-critical feminists, you aren’t supposed to mention it. Even on a Whatsapp group chat involving natal women working at the BBC, you aren’t supposed to mention it. It doesn’t matter if your subject matter is Labour party all-woman shortlists, what to do about children who think they are trans, medical discussions, biology teaching, or presumably, your own relatives; you are never, ever, eversupposed to describe trans women as men or male, ‘deadname’, ‘misgender’, or use the ‘wrong’ pronouns out loud. Even trans women themselves aren’t supposed to do these things: see the bullying treatment that trans women in the UK such as Miranda Yardley, Kristina Harrison, and Debbie Hayton get, when they deny that they themselves are ‘really’ women, and seek a different narrative.

This is in itself quite striking, as for other false claims about category membership, people are normally socially permitted to assert them. Take the claims: “Elton John is straight”. “Marvin Gaye is white”. Those claims are obviously false, but there was, presumably, no inward gasp of horror as you just read them. Now contrast with: “Caitlyn Jenner is a man”; “Lily Madigan is biologically male; he is a man”. Even though I mention these as exemplary sentences, rather than assert them myself, I assume that at least some readers think I just wrote something awful. Moreover, this is presumably not just the feeling that I showed a lack of respect for the addressee’s wishes; for if I tell you that the composer of the song ‘Rocket Man’ is Reginald Dwight, presumably you don’t think I just committed ‘violence’ against Elton John by ‘deadnaming’ him.

Writing down those phrases about Jenner and Madigan just now, but without quotation marks, would be enough to have me banned from Twitter. Articles have been removed from Medium for less. This is not, despite what opponents have sometimes suggested, because such statements are obviously morally equivalent to denying the personhood or humanity of those who are racially different to oneself. (Again, I’m happy to offer arguments for this — it won’t take long — but I leave it aside for the moment, on the assumption that most readers aren’t so sophomoric). Nor is it reasonable to think that hearing such statements will generally cause trans people to have thoughts of suicide, as is sometimes dramatically suggested by Owen Jones, in a way that means we should never utter them.

A better explanation seems to involve the thought that, should a speaker X publically refer to a trans person Y by their natally-bestowed name or pronouns, even out of the earshot of Y, Y might later find out about it; or at least, some other trans person might find out about it, and by extrapolation to their own case, be caused to experience a distressing episode of dysphoria. Equally, presumably, it is worried that if a trans woman overhears a general claim such as “trans women are men/ males”, she will be caused great distress; perhaps too, a trans man might be caused great distress, again by extrapolating to his own case.

However, this reasoning clearly has limits. If gender critical feminists are talking to each other on a discussion thread clearly advertised for the purpose, or in a Whatsapp group, then it just seems too demanding to require they talk a certain way, just in case a trans woman or trans man reads or ‘hears’ them. The trans woman in question would almost certainly have to be specially looking. Quite often trans activists will equate misgendering along the lines of going up to a trans person and screaming ‘you’re a man!’ in their face(always ‘screaming’, of course). Obviously this isn’t what is happening in the contexts just mentioned: this is natal women talking to other natal women, about matters of great importance to them, as such, and with no reasonable expectation that they will be accidentally ‘overheard’.

In any case: even if one can foresee that trans people will overhear when one denies that trans women are women — is that a compelling reason not to say what one thinks? It rather depends on what is at stake. It was part of the original argument of my blog pieces that rather a lot is currently at stake in the UK with respect to this matter. There are several conflicts of interest that arise between trans women, as a category, and women, as a category, competing for the same spaces and resources. Trans activists seem to think that natal women should accede to all their demands. In that context, I think natal women should be allowed to speak freely in a critical way about the underpinnings of trans activist views. If natal women conclude after consideration that trans women aren’t women, they should be able to say so, whether or not they’re ultimately right.

Partly too, though, I think that the moral horror which unconsciously accompanies ‘misgendering’ in particular is, perversely, an artefact of sexist normative stereotypes for natal women and men. We tend to frame statements like “Caitlyn Jenner is a man/ male” in terms of insults launched at ‘butch’ or ‘manly’ natal women. The combination of a woman’s name and the epithet ‘man’ or ‘male’ sounds insulting, automatically. Compare: “Kathleen Stock is a man”. Were you to hear someone else saying this, perhaps you would empathically imagine me hearing the same thing and finding it distressing or embarrassing; you might assume that as a woman, I must aspire to the norm of a feminised appearance, and must suffer if I miss the mark. But — of course — to say e.g. that “Caitlyn Jenner is a man” isn’t an insult, in many contexts in which it is uttered. It is, in the mouths of many, a descriptive fact, not a slur or insult. Indeed, arguably it could only be an insult in the way just indicated, if in fact the speaker already assumed that Caitlyn Jenner was a woman. And this is, precisely, not assumed by those that tend to say it.

What else might underly the reaction to Bindel, in particular? I’m sure that part of it is to do with another sexist assumption: that women cannot be bawdy, frank, or colourful in their language; they must be sober, measured, cautious, responsible, kind. At this point we might as well also revisit Germaine Greer’s statement from the Victoria Derbyshire show in 2015:

“Just because you lop off your penis and then wear a dress doesn’t make you a fucking woman .. I’ve asked my doctor to give me long ears and liver spots and I’m going to wear a brown coat but that won’t turn me into a fucking cocker spaniel.”

This is a vividly Rabelaisian way of making the basic claim — which I have argued that natal women should be freely permitted to make, whether or not it is true — that trans women aren’t women. It caused an enormous fuss at the time, and is still regularly cited, along with other such statements, as evidence of Greer’s ‘transphobia’. Yet in her brilliant and funny seminal work of feminism The Female Eunuch, published in 1970, it is clear from Greer’s discussion of April Ashley that she held the same position then as she does now. Greer expresses herself frankly about many things, and always has. See also, for instance, this brutal passage, also from The Female Eunuch, about female students in Universities:

“Their energy is all expended on conforming with disciplinary and other requirements, not in gratifying their own curiosity about the subject that they are studying, and so most of it is misdirected into meaningless assiduity. This phenomenon is still very common among female students, who are forming a large proportion of the arts intake at universities, and dominating the teaching profession as a result. The process is clearly one of diminishing returns: the servile induce servility to teach the servile, in a realm where the unknown ought to be continually assailed with all the human faculties: education cannot be, and has never been a matter of obedience”. (p.75)

Now, you very possibly disagree with this, and so do I. And the style may not be to your taste. You might prefer your lady writers hedged, scholarly, sympathetic, and so on. Myself, I find it refreshing, like a bucket of cold salt water has been chucked over me after days of humid air. That is of course, compatible with saying that I disagree with a lot of what Greer says: as I have a mind of my own, this is hardly surprising. But whether Greer is to your taste or not, it is simply obvious that we don’t police colourful derogatory male speech in anything like the same way, whether the males in question are talking about natal women/ females, or even trans people.

The constant harping of progressive men on supposedly salutary examples like Bindel and Greer sends a message to natal women. Don’t say what you think. Don’t express an opinion on what women are; leave it to trans women to decide that. Don’t be assured. Don’t be bold. Don’t be whimsical or linguistically playful. Don’t try to be funny. Watch your mouth. Given the typical circumstances of female socialisation, natal women are already highly susceptible to such messages, and to feeling shame as a result. So here’s a task for any progressive males reading. Next time a natal woman expresses herself in a way you find unattractive, unseemly, unkind, or downright rude about trans people, then, assuming they aren’t “screaming it in a trans person’s face”: why not shut the fuck up and keep it to yourself.

Kathleen Stock 

#kathleen stock #julie bindel #transgender #gender identity #female erasure #gender critical #radical feminism #misogyny #trans misogyny #regressive left #male privilege #womanhood #lesbophobia #lesbians #some people are female get over it #trans women #female only spaces #osobni #sexism #feminism #biological sex #lesbian #👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 #text

[darklingichor]

The True Story of an American Outlaw: Butch Cassidy by Charlie Leerhsen (and a rant about the movie)

Ever read a book that is entertaining, but you also want to slap the author upside the head for being a pretentious ass?

That's what happened with this book

Now, I get that the subject of this book is a criminal, and yes, the criminals of the old west are romanticized and really shouldn't be, but the tone of this book is simply petulant distain.

Not only for Butch Cassidy, but for the old west culture, Wyoming (both past and present day) and most of all, the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.I'll take each of these things one at a time but I'm going to start with the movie, because he. Does. Not. Shut. Up. About. It. Seriously, as much as he bitches about the movie, you would think that William Goldman caused some personal offense to him. Did he cut in front of him in line at the ATM once? Steal his cab? Who the fuck knows, but the author is pouting. And I say pouting, because in the end he acknowledges, that even without research, Goldman managed to capture the spirit of Butch's personality in the movie.

But Etta's name was actually Ethel, so ha! He was still wrong.

Look, Butch and Sundance is one of my favorite movies, but I'm not blind to it's faults. The bike scene? It's silly. I could do the film 101 argument and say how it symbolizes the changing times, leaving the two main characters as relics of the past, and how both are fighting to be part of a future that neither man is willing to accept. But honestly? Like the part told in photos when they go to New York, It's a lighthearted moment in a story that would otherwise just be two guys running from a faceless posse and fleeing to south America. Yes, it's out of place, especially with the pop song playing over it, but I don't care. Why? *Because it's fiction*

Yeah the opening card says that most of what follows actually happened, (and the author certainly considers it a lie meant to misinform) but am I the only one that thinks it's supposed to be taken ironically? And with the idea of "Okay, which part?"

This flick was written by the same man who wrote The Princess Bride. A book in which he invents a childhood, and a fake family for himself, with his parents and the actual author of the book (that he is just editing) being born and raised in Florin (a country that doesn't exist). He also claims that the book the reader is holding is so heavily edited that Florin scholars hate him. All of this is 100% fiction, yet the tone of these parts of the book, come across with a straight face. William Goldman is the screenwriter equivalent of Willy Wonka. Assume everything is either tongue in cheek, or has a double meaning.

The author snootily writes that had Goldman done research and insisted on historical accuracy than he would have made a film instead of a movie, but then it wouldn't have made as much money.

Excuse me, I just rolled my eyes so hard I might have sprained my face.

People who throw stones like this tend not to live in glass houses because they don't want others to see that while they pay lip service at the alter of Citizen Kane, they are enjoying the hell out of Die Hard. The worth of a story doesn't nessesarily go down if the box offices go up.

Maybe this author is also trying to be ironic, but if so, he's bad at it, because not a chapter goes by that he doesn't point out that the movie is poorly researched, and this and this and this is wrong.

What really baffled me was his repeated stance about the end of the movie.

He calls the ending of Butch and Sundance ambiguous, unsatisfying, and wimpy.

As if an adventure flick from 1969 with taglines like " They're taking trains... They're taking banks and they're taking one piece of baggage!" Was going to end in a bloody shoot out, or a murder/suicide.

And is it *supposed* to be ambiguous? Because, beside the fact that Etta says she won't watch them die and she leaves before the end, think of the final scene: two wounded guys, who know they are way out numbered, running out of a shelter, with pistols, caught in a freeze frame while a voice yells out to fire, a burst of organized rifle fire ring out, not once, but *three* times. Not one pistol shot into the silence between the commands of "Fuego!"

To me, that says "very dead, but we're renting this location, so go easy on the fake blood."

But this author, apparently, unfamiliar with the concept of subtext, is angry that the fact that theses two characters are swiss cheese wasn't spoon fed to him with airplane sounds.

Then the author decided to go for low hanging fruit and piss on Wyoming. I live on the west coast, but my family is from Wyoming, I spent many a summer there. The weather is absolute insanity (for an similar rant see my post on Blogging Twilight where I talk about my short time living in Montana). It's a common joke to say there is no one in Wyoming because it is the most sparsely populated state, I've made it myself, I've also said that to my PNW eyes, there is a criminal lack of trees in the areas I have been (Casper area, Thermopolis, New Castle). But this author?

Of the area where there is a tourist attraction for the jail that Butch Cassidy spent some time in; he says that you couldn't get people to gather there if you were from Fox News handing out giant belt buckles.

*Yawn*

Can you tell this guy is from New York and thinks his geography is a replacement for a personality?

Look, I'm about as liberal as you can get without swinging around to the opposite side of the spectrum, but I can tell that was a cheap shot.

Yes, Wyoming is a red state, but being a republican doesn't nessesarily mean that you think Fox News is Moses and is updating the 10 Commandments on a 24 hour cycle. I know many republicans who have critical thinking skills, do we agree on everything? No, but it isn't a comment on their intelligence.

And then the author gets on to the culture of Wyoming during Butch's time for wanting to be like the east coast. As if the people of the east coast at the time weren't looking to England and Europe for what was sophisticated at the time. Because that's sort of how shit like that works.

He also goes on ad nauseam about how corrupt and/ or incompetent the system of law was in the area. I'm surprised that this wasn't followed up with a chapter about how snow is cold, but melts when the sun hits it.

And finally, he complains about Butch, as if this book were an essay a teacher made him write. It's weird, Butch was elevated to Robin Hood status, when it he didn't deserve it, which annoys him, but the author seems equally as mad that Butch *didn't* behave like the patron saint of outlaws.

The author seems to want to debunk the legend while also wanting Butch to live up to it, at the same time.

I don't think anyone except this guy really thinks that he was doing some sort of exposé of someone dead for 100 years.

Yes, he points out that Butch and Sundance died in Bolivia, and didn't come back to live the straight and narrow life in the US. But, c'mon, I learned that from a History Channel documentary in 1998.

He says that Butch was immature, didn't think ahead when it came to money... Duh? I never think of "bank robber" and "fiscally responsible" in the same sentence, do you? And immature? What? You mean a guy who was most comfortable taking things that didn't belong to him wasn't a wise and steady personality?

You just keep thinkin' Charlie, that's what you're good at.

The whole point of the book seems to be "This guy is a criminal and we shouldn't find him entertaining, because that's just what he would have wanted" and then proceeds to tell pretty interesting stories about him.

And in the end, that's why I enjoyed the book, Butch makes for an entertaining character. Honestly though there's nothing new here, which isn't surprising, except for the fact that this book is written as though the author thinks he is the first to think of stripping the gloss away from a historical figure turned folk hero, and he does a poor job of it to boot. He focuses a lot on the fact that Butch targeted banks and trains, but never took anything from patrons or passengers. "This guy was no Robin Hood! Now here's all the times he sort of acted like Robin Hood!"

This was less the "True Story of Butch Cassidy" and more "Did you Know Butch Cassidy Wasn't Paul Newman?"

This book just makes me want to find a better one on Butch.

#book #books #new book 34 #book blogging 2021 #The True Story of an American Outlaw #Charles Leerhsen

[gendercensus]

Gender Census 2019 - The Full Report (Worldwide)

This is a long post! You can see a summary of the big three questions here.

~

Hi and welcome to this year’s worldwide report based on the 11,242 responses to the Gender Census, which ran from 25th February until 30th March. It was mostly shared on Tumblr and Twitter, with some Reddit and Facebook and no doubt some one-to-one link-sharing too.

You can see the spreadsheet of results in full here, which might be helpful if you need to see graphs or figures in more detail. For the charts and graphs of statistics over time, the summary spreadsheet can be found here.

~

Q1. IDENTITY WORDS

As in previous years, I asked: Which of the following best describe(s) in English how you think of yourself?

Here’s the top 5:

nonbinary - 66.6% (up 6%)

queer - 43.0% (up 40.1%)

trans - 36.6% (up 1.8%)

enby - 31.7% (up 7.2%)

transgender - 30.4% (up 2.5%)

I put queer in bold because it’s new to the list, and the way it’s rocketed to second place is very unusual... and a little suspicious.

The wording of the identity question carefully avoids mentioning gender so that people without genders feel comfortable answering (or not answering), but it’s not really meant to include sexualities. The exception is sexualities that are part of someone’s gender identity, like this comment that someone wrote into the identity checkbox: “femme lesbian (sometimes i feel like lesbian *is* my gender)”

So anyway, last year queer got 2.9% (over the 1% threshold), and I personally know people who feel that their gender is queer, so I added it to the list. Usually when terms are added as checkbox options it might multiply their popularity by about four, but 43% is way too high to be explained by that. Queer is usually used to describe sexuality, so I think perhaps people who identify as queer in terms of their sexuality might have been selecting it too. I’m considering changing it slightly, to something like “queer (as gender identity)” to clarify it for next year. It’s possible that we won’t know if this percentage is due to bad survey design for a year or two.

(Edit: Some feedback on queer and my response to the feedback can be found here.)

Along those lines, several terms were added to the checkbox options this year because they were typed in by over 1% of participants last year:

queer

genderless

demiboy

demigirl

gender non-conforming

There are now 28 terms in the identity checkbox list, and as usual there were people expressing gratitude for the abundance of checkbox options in the identity question. However, there has also been an increase in people entering words into the textboxes that are already in the checkbox list. That means that people are missing or are not able to find the identity words they connect with more than last year, and it doesn’t help that the list is randomised to reduce primacy and recency bias.

Right now I add words to the checkbox list if they reach 1%, and this year for the first time I am considering adding another system for removing words that are not used as much. You can read a blog post I wrote about that here. I concluded based on the results of the 2017 survey (which asked for participants’ ages) that some words that seem to be used less overall are used more often by participants over 30, and since participants over 30 are underrepresented in online surveys generally I will be keeping any word that they enter over 3% of the time even if the word isn’t used as much overall.

Relatedly, I didn’t ask for ages in the survey this year, but I will be collecting information about age in future surveys to make sure that I don’t remove words and accidentally alienate underrepresented age groups. (The age question will be optional and will give age ranges rather than asking for an exact age, so hopefully that won’t make people feel too uncomfortable.)

This year someone complained for the first time that I was excluding words from other languages because I specify “in English” in the question, and if you know me from previous surveys you know that’s the opposite of my intention! Every word entered is counted, and I’m very aware that people use words from other languages while speaking English. So I’m considering rewording the question, but I welcome feedback on this since I’ve never had anyone complain about this issue before and plenty of people already enter non-English words.

And here’s this year’s top 10 words and their popularity over time:

Those two lines shooting up from 2018 to 2019 are two of the words newly added this year: queer and gender non-conforming. That green line starting near the bottom in 2016 and steadily increasing over time is more like what I’d usually expect - that’s enby, which is now up to #4 on the list.

There are no new identity words to add next year; the closest to 1% was butch with 0.7%. However, since I intend to collect information about age and since people often type, for example, “girl but not woman, even though I am not a minor”, I will be splitting girl, woman, man and boy into separate checkboxes next year.

2,021 unique identity words/terms were typed into the “other” textbox, including 413 that were entered more than once. The average number of type-ins for people who actually typed words in was 1.8, and the average words per person overall was 5. Most entered 4 words:

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Q2: THE TITLE QUESTION

I asked, Supposing all title fields on forms were optional and write-your-own, what would you want yours to be in English? I also clarified that participants should be currently entitled to use it, so they should have a doctorate if they choose Dr, etc.

There were 5 specific titles to choose from, plus a few options like “I choose on the day” and “a non-gendered professional or academic title”. Participants could choose only one, with the goal of finding out what, when pressed, people enter on official records forms and ID.

Here’s our top 5:

No title at all - 33.0% (up 0.6%)

Mx - 31.3% (down 1.3%)

Mr - 8.7% (up 0.2%)

Non-gendered prof/acad. - 5.5% (up 0.1%)

Ms - 4.7% (down 1.0%)

Here’s how that looks compared with previous years:

Mx and no title switched places again for the fifth year in a row! And this year I made a similar graph but without Mx and no title. They always get way more than everything else, and it makes it really hard to see what’s going on in the lower half of the graph!

That rollercoaster of a red line is because in 2018 I specified that “non-gendered professional/academic title” should be one that the participant should be entitled to use, which caused that significant drop.

The most popular five “other” textbox titles were:

M - 28 (0.2%)

Comrade - 17

Sir - 10

Mrs - 9

Ser - 7

As with last year, I invited people who chose “a standard title that is used only by people other than men and women” (2.5% of participants) to optionally suggest titles that they’d heard of. The goal is to find a popular title that is considered exclusive to nonbinary genders the way Mr is generally considered exclusive to men and Ms is to women.

243 people checked the “standard exclusive nonbinary” title option, and here’s everything entered more than once:

Mx - 16

M - 4

Xr - 2

Mrs - 2

Mx is generally considered gender-inclusive by people who are familiar with it, especially if their title is Mx, but it’s high on this list because Mx is very well-known generally. M in French is masculine, but in English it’s not gendered and I assume it’s pronounced “em”? (That seems to be what people have said in the notes, but please do tell me if I’m wrong!) It was also the most entered title in the “other” textbox. Xr is new to me, I’m not sure how it’s pronounced.

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Q3: PRONOUNS

The fourth question was actually a complex set of questions retained from last year, which started with Supposing all pronouns were accepted by everyone without question and were easy to learn, which pronouns are you happy for people to use for you in English? This was accompanied by a list of pre-written checkbox options. It included “a pronoun set not listed here”. and if you chose that it took you to a separate set of questions that let you enter up to five pronoun sets in detail.

As usual, everything that was a pre-written checkbox option got over 1%.

Here’s the top 5:

Singular they - they/them/their/theirs/themself - 79.5% (up 2.1%)

He - he/him/his/his/himself - 30.8% (down 0.4%)

She - she/her/her/hers/herself - 29.0% (down 1.9%)

None/avoid pronouns - 10.3% (up 0.2%)

Xe - xe/xem/xyr/xyrs/xemself - 7.2% (down 0.2%)

Here’s how that looks over time:

Because singular they, he and she always do better than everything else, let’s look at that chart without them. Every other specific pronoun set got under 8%.

Here’s the top 5 textbox neopronouns, none of which got over 1%:

ne/nem/nemself (singular verbs) - 27 (0.2%)

ve/ver/verself (singular verbs) - 24

ey/em/emself (singular verbs) - 23

ae/aer/aerself (singular verbs) - 22

thon/thon/thonself (singular verbs) - 18

(I’m going by the subject, object and reflexive, because that seems like the best way to collect similar sets together - eyeballing it, the most variations occur in the possessives.)

Half of participants don’t like he or she, and 9% like neither he, she nor they. 695 unique sets of neopronouns were entered by 574 people, of which 84 were entered more than once. The average number of pronouns entered was 2.2, and most people (39%) were happy with one set.

Overall it looks like there are no neopronouns really gaining in popularity, and even the checkbox neopronouns are being used less since 2015.

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THE QUESTIONS I ASK

What should the third gender option on forms be called? - Still no consensus, but nonbinary is at 2 in 3 people and it does seem to be gradually climbing.

Is there a standard neutral title yet? - Not yet. Mx is still consistently far more popular than all other titles, but just as many nonbinary people want no title at all. It’s really important that activists campaigning for greater acceptance of gender diversity remember to fight for titles to be optional, too.

Is there a pronoun that every nonbinary person is happy with? - No. The closest we have to a standard is singular they, and it’s important for journalists and anyone else with a style guide to allow it. It’s levelled out at about 1 in 5 not being into singular they, and 9% of us don’t like he, she or they pronouns.

Are any of the neopronouns gaining ground in a way that competes with singular they? - No. This year the closest is “Xe - xe/xem/xyr/xyrs/xemself” (7.2%, compared to singular they’s 79.5%). Users of these neopronouns will probably not reach consensus for many years - language and especially pronouns can be very slow to settle and gain ground. Even if one neopronoun does become very commonly used, many will continue to use other neopronouns for a long time to come.

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THIS YEAR IN REVIEW

Crowdfunding was successful enough that I have a little money leftover for costs next year. We had around the same number of participants as last year, but follower numbers and mailing list subscribers increased, which bodes well for next year.

I made some minor changes to the promotional illustrations to make them more gender-/sex-inclusive, and this year I got no complaints, so that was a good move! However, this year I did see a lot more confusion about who is invited to take part. I think the changes were probably worth it to make sure I’m being as welcoming and inclusive as I can be in the promotional stuff, so hopefully people will err on the side of caution and just jump in.

The way that the new survey software collects information, and my increased knowledge of Google Sheets, mean that I didn’t have to resort to MS Excel at all this year. This is really good, because working with unfamiliar software slows me down a lot! My formulae have been more efficient (thanks to my increasing Google Sheets skillz), so the entire sheet could be processed at once instead of being split into several questions. I’m really happy about that, because it means the entire worldwide results report came out less than 24 hours after the survey closed, instead of... *cough* eight months *cough* ...

I made an executive decision not to do a UK report this year, because the added complication makes it really hard for me to motivate myself. It definitely worked, look at that, it’s only March and the worldwide report is already out! I might still do a UK report, and I will keep collecting UK/not UK info about participants so that I always have that option, but for now I’ll just concentrate on the worldwide report and just do the UK report if I feel like it before 2020. And of course the spreadsheet is available to anyone who wants to download it and play with it, so if someone else wants to make some UK-specific statistics happen that is totally possible.

What I’ll do differently next year

In the identity question, I will keep queer as a checkbox option, but I will specify that it’s a gender. Maybe “queer (as gender identity)”? Feedback welcome on this!

In the pronouns question, I’ll change the wording of “none/avoid pronouns” so that it’s clear that it includes just using someone’s name. That’s because a lot of people tried to enter their names as neopronoun sets to express that, and I want to avoid people entering identifying information.

I will ask about age, to make sure that people over 30 are represented by checkbox options. Typically only about 10% of participants are over 30 so I want to make sure as many as possible are comfortable taking part. I’ll group ages into sets of 5 years (21-25, 26-30, etc.) to reduce risk of people being identified, and because entering an exact age probably feels a little more uncomfortable.

After 2020, any identity word, title or pronoun that is entered by less than 3% of participants and less than 3% of participants over 30 can be removed in future surveys. (I am a little concerned about this part, because it’ll make the work more complicated for me, and more work means more risk of epic procrastination. I’ll do my best!)

I’ve finally admitted to myself that I need to separate man and boy, and woman and girl. Currently it’s “woman (or girl if younger)” and “man (or boy if younger)”, and every year plenty of people skip those options in the checkboxes and type in “girl (but not woman even though I’m not a minor)” or something like that, and next year I’ll be asking about age so that’ll be an easy way to determine if there are any adults who are comfortable with one and not the other. This will increase the number of checkboxes to 30, which is pretty unwieldy and will make it harder yet again for people to find their words and increase the rate at which people drop out of the survey, so I’m glad for the under-3% checkbox removal threshold that I’m introducing from 2021 onwards.

Closing thoughts

I slipped up on a couple of things this year (ambiguity over the word “queer”, for example) - but overall I’m pretty impressed with how well I handled it all compared to last year. (I had recently moved house and was trying to rebuild my life, so I didn’t have a lot of spare energy in 2018!)

As always, I’m excited to pore through all your written answers and feedback, and I’m really grateful to everyone who shared the survey link! There were hundreds of RTs and thousands of reblogs, which never ceases to amaze me. Thank you everyone for sharing a small linguistic part of yourselves with me, I hope putting it all together helps you and makes a positive difference to the world!

See also

A list of links to all results, including UK and worldwide, and including previous years

The mailing list for being notified of next year’s survey

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SUPPORT ME!

I do this basically for free (the crowdfunded money goes entirely on survey software and domain fees), so if you happened to stumble onto my Amazon wishlist and accidentally fall on an Add To Cart button… well, I would be immensely grateful. ;) If you wanted to go and check out Starfriends.org too I reckon Andréa would be pretty chuffed!

#gender census #results #nonbinary #gender census 2019 #survey #pronouns #neopronouns #gender-neutral language #language