#to say that lesbians need to have she in their pronouns just excludes a whole bunch of people

[ellsss]

AFAB ENBY LESBIANS ARE VALID NO MATTER YOUR PRONOUNS. PERIOD.

#like what is so hard to understand? #AFAB ENBY LESBIANS AREN'T MEN #if you think that you're a transphobe #and a terf #part of being enby is having pronouns that suit how you feel #it's not about what sex you want to be #enby may be under the trans umbrella but its different #to say that lesbians need to have she in their pronouns just excludes a whole bunch of people #especially masc and butch lesbians #people who identify and want their sex to be male CANNOT be lesbians #we all know that #and we all need to call it out when we see it #but enby AFAB lesbians using they/them and he/him pronouns are NOT that #STOP SAYING THEY ARE #and stop listening to terf rhetoric #also not everyone needs to be femme presenting to be lesbians #and if you are saying they/them and he/him lesbians are invalid you're essentially saying that they HAVE to be femme #thats fucked up.

[valentinesie]

WELCOME TO VALENTINESIE'S PAGE!!

Gaybian lesboy aroace agender gothic, aroace omni sapphic, lazy decked (devils candy) turigirl icons, circled and bordered, horsegender gay, bunnygender gay flags with soft colours, bipan lesboy, Butch/futch/femme gaybian, techcore gaybian,

about, byf, dni ; under the cut!

‹𝟹‹𝟹‹𝟹 ABOUT valentine

◟◟001. the names! !

You can call me Valentine, Sephiroth, or Caelian (kah-eh-lian) I will always answer to those! more here

◟◟002. the head! !

Attention! I am borderline and histrionic, which are commonly tied together. I also have autism && generalized anxiety disorder, linked with paranoid personality disorder!

◟◟003. the identity! !

My pronouns are here. I'm a femme girlboyflux abro bisexual velaurian! I'm also a lesboy, a turigirl and much more! Otherkin stuff includes but is not limited to: angelkin, idolkin, vampkin && more

◟◟004. likeslikes! !

Psycology, sociology, philosophy, typology, sciences, mathematics, writing, poems, reading, literature, hoarding stuff, nge, ff7, tloz, cute stuff, hello kitty, and much more!

‹𝟹‹𝟹‹𝟹 ABOUT the blog

◟◟001. will do! !

⠀⋆˒ xenogenders coining

⠀⋆˒ flag making

⠀⋆˒ flag combos

⠀⋆˒ names, pronouns or titles finds

⠀⋆˒ radinclu stuff

⠀⋆˒ Icons (♡)(♡)(♡)

◟◟002. won't do! !

⠀⋆˒ radqueer/transx stuff

⠀⋆˒ exclu, panphobic, blerf, terf, radfem flags

⋆˒ "x hating" flag

⠀⋆˒ overall stuff that fits my dni

⠀⋆˒ system / plural stuff! (I'm a singlet so...)

◟◟003. Byf! !

I love to defend the things I appreciate or enjoy!

I am autistic and borderline, I struggle reading tones and tend to take everything, too personally. It's nothing against anyone! If I get agressive, for a reason that might be futile, just kindly tell me!

If you block me, I might ask why. Not knowing the reasons makes me really anxious. I aspire to improve myself and so, I need to know what made you block me.

If I repost someone, it doesn't mean I support their whole blog, it just means this post somehow correlates to my opinion or to what I like. Naturally, I won't repost it if I knows the person dni && fit it.

Anyone can use my flags, just be respectful and credit me. My flags don't "support" nor "don't support" anything. Me making them has nothing to do with queer discourse.

Don't be rude, when I say something, it means I have arguments and reasons. Instead of randomly bashing me at the smallest things, ask for explanations! I'll kindly share them.

I support "contradictory" labels, this includes but is not limited to: mspec lesbian, mspec gay, lesboys, turigirls, trans women gays, trans men lesbian, etc!

◟◟004. Dni! !

If you are anti-mogai or think xenos/neos aren't valid.

If you think non-binaries can't be gay/lesbians or if you don't support he/him lesbians or she/her gays.

If you do not support "contradictory labels"

If you fakeclaim.

Against otherkin, non-humans, therian, etc!

Doesn't support self dx.

Dmsp, South park, fnaf and genshin fans, unless I follow first.

Pedos, shotacons, lolicons, maps, proshippers, etc or anyone who support those!

If you demonize the cluster b (npd, bpd, hpd, aspd) and this includes if you belive that narcissistic abuse exist.

Under 13, unless I follow first.

If you are pro-contact paraphilia.

Don't cw/tw

If you're going to judge me or mock me/my interests.

Exclus or "Safequeers" ("inclusive" term that excludes mspec lesbians/gays and lesboys/turigirls && more.

Transmeds, transcums, gender skeptics, gender police, etc.

Anti-ageres.

Any kind of bigot.

‹𝟹‹𝟹‹𝟹 ABOUT the tags

ᨳ🎀﹕the prinzessin herself ﹕ my hoard!

ᨳ💌﹕a letter from the citizens ﹕ inbox!

ᨳ🦇﹕the winged one speaks ﹕ text posts!

ᨳ🌹﹕a gift for one's subject ﹕ coinning post!

ᨳ🐈‍⬛﹕rise the flag ﹕ flag making!

ᨳ🍓﹕prinzessin help usᵎ﹕ prns && name finds!

ᨳ💗﹕subject's portrait﹕icons ^_^

#pinned intro #pride flags #rad inclus #mspec lesbian #mogaireal #mogai safe #coining blog #ᨳ🎀﹕the prinzessin herself #ᨳ💌﹕a letter from the citizens #ᨳ🦇﹕the winged one speaks #ᨳ🌹﹕a gift for one's subject #ᨳ🐈‍⬛﹕rise the flag #ᨳ🍓﹕prinzessin help usᵎ #ᨳ💗﹕subject's portrait

[bugs-b-clownin]

Happy Pride. consider reading this. it's more than just a personal story.

When I was young, very young, I started wondering if I was a lesbian. I didn't like men, I only liked women. that had to be it.

years were going by and I knew my gender wasn't woman. at least, it wasn't conventionally anything that I could think of. I discovered my transness young, and was lucky for it.

transmeds kept me from being myself for years though. I figured I must be a man if I wasn't a woman. but eventually, I got out of that cycle and I accepted being nonbinary.

i explored more. lesbian to bisexual, bisexual to trans, trans to nonbinary, nonbinary to wondering why I felt so many complicated things that I didn't seem to fit into. I dabbled with every label you could think of, and I still felt so unseen. not myself.

im 22 now, I've been on my queer journey for a decade, half my life. I'm lucky for it. I'm lucky to know now that I am a nonbinary lesbian, that I can have exceptions, that I don't need she/her pronouns to feel how I feel. and I know that I'm asexual.

where was the asexual part of the journey though? everything else was a leg of a marathon, there were miles to be ran in labels I fit in like comfortable sneakers, but where was the exploration of my lack of sexuality? where was that segment?

the truth is, it was hanging over me the whole time like a giant rain cloud waiting to pour at the right time. I knew. I knew from the start. I knew from 7 years old. I knew as a teen. I knew I was asexual through every assault, every uncomfortable encounter with men, every moment a person was ready for the next step when I wasn't. I was aware. but I thought I wasn't normal, not functional like everyone else.

I thought until this year, over 10 years of knowing I was queer, that my asexuality excluded me from everything. it excluded me from normal relationships and it excluded me from the queer community. and only NOW am I ready to accept the label I've always been under.

representation is key. I never had it. I could sooner accept the unconventional nonbinary lesbian thing than accept somehow all those years of grooming, assault, and violations were for nothing. I could never come out of that being confident and moving on to live a normal sex life. it was just this pointless trauma I endured for nothing, as too were the years of media and my own community telling me I wasn't welcome or functional.

"you'll grow into it, you haven't found the right man yet, you're just a late bloomer"

trust me and hear me when I tell you that is bullshit.

look, I'm lucky enough to be here today to tell you how hard this was. I'm lucky that I can guide my younger friends through this, I'm lucky my sister was able to just say she was trans and lesbian without the years of abuse from the same mother as me, cause I always softened the blow. I'm lucky to know myself now, and to know my queer friends, and to know I'm not broken.

so I think maybe the suffering wasn't for nothing. maybe, if I'm the representation for the people I know younger than myself, then I've gotten something out of the pain. not that I should have endured it. not that any of you should have either.

so happy pride everyone. asexual people are real. gender and sexuality are complex. you are never going to be alone. and some day, despite all the hurt, you'll all be okay too. <3

#pride #pride month #queer #lgbtq #lgbtqia #gay #lesbian #bi #bisexual #asexual #aromantic #acearo #demi #aspec #mspec #mspec lesbian #nonbinary #enby #trans #transgender #genderqueer #genderfluid #wlw #mlm #nblnb #nblm #nblw #tw assault #tw sa #tw grooming

[biradstrawberry]

I spent a long time agonizing over whether I was a lesbian or bi. I had crushes on guys, I had dated guys, but after my sexual assault, men scared me and I wanted nothing to do with them. So I called myself a lesbian. I didn't date for years because it just wasn't a priority and I'm not very good with people and I still had trauma to deal with.

When I finally did date again, the first person I dated was a trans woman. I figured: she's a woman, so this should be just like dating a woman. But it wasn't. She talked over me, tried to tell me what I was feeling. When we did have sex (which wasn't often) she wanted me to penetrate her. I'm fine experimenting with new sexual things but it ended up grossing me out because she wouldn't clean herself so I didn't want to do it anymore. I feel like it would've been fine if she had the right parts but otherwise it's just messy. She couldn't penetrate me because that didn't make her feel like a woman. So we just didn't have sex.

The whole reason I wanted to date was to experience women. And dating a trans woman just didn't give me that experience. I tried to break up with her several times and she always manipulated me into taking her back. When I did finally kick her out for good, I started dating cis women. And it was everything I was looking for. They understood the struggle of women in a way Anna couldn't, even though that was her major. She'd never had a period, never grown up as a woman, never experienced all the expectations people place on you for being born female. In the end, even though she tried her best to mimic womanhood and learn everything she could about it, she sounded and looked and behaved like a man. And that was not what I wanted.

When we broke up I started dating women exclusively, but I still included trans women. I didn't want to exclude them, it felt mean and disrespectful of their gender expression. Then one turned out to be a pedophile. That was where I started thinking, would I be terrible to exclude them? Would that make me a terf? I knew a terf was one of the worst things you could be. But there were so many differences between dating trans women and cis women. They just weren't the same.

I went through a lot of arguments in my head about this. I couldn't be a terf, I'm not a vile person. I don't want trans genocide. But I was curious if anyone else had experienced what I had, and I stumbled across the radfem community. And I did find some extreme points of view that I thought were just mean. But for the most part I found supportive women who wanted women's voices to be heard over the loud trans right activists trying to tell us who to date and accept into our lives despite the danger and discomfort we may feel. People standing up for real women.

Having dealt with the trauma from my assault and my last relationship, I can now say that I am bisexual. But despite this, I will never date a trans woman again. It is too much mental energy trying to convince them that they are women when I don't really, if I'm honest with myself, believe that they are. It something looks, talks, and behaves like a man, how can you tell me I'm supposed to treat them like a woman? I won't take part in that delusion.

I also won't date a non binary person, because I have always thought that changing your pronouns is a futile exercise that does nothing but inconvenience the people around you. It seems arrogant to me to think that you're so different you need a new category. Not fitting into the gender box doesn't mean you need more divisions in the box, it means you can just exist outside of the box. Why care so much about how other people refer to you? Let them say what they want, be yourself. Don't hinge you sanity on other people calling you the right thing, that's putting your fate in someone else's hands.

I think whether you're gay or bi or straight you have a right to exclude whoever you want from your dating pool. It doesn't mean you're bigoted or you hate them - I have no problem calling anyone by the pronouns they prefer. But I'm not obligated to be attracted to anyone. I don't have to let anyone in my life that I don't want there.

#radical feminism #radfem

[lycan-troth]

Sooo Lucio's route. I got the upright ending. I thought I'd get the reversed one, but as it turned out i did good.

At the start of his route I wasn't really sure about trying to complete it. Because let's face it he isn't great in the other routes.

In particular he was horrendous in Muriel's route. If you haven't started Muriel's then I recommend it, a LOT happens. I've not finished it yet, so no spoilers please. But fuck I hate Lucio SO MUCH in Muriel's route, what he does to Morga (his own mother) actually made me want to cry. That and the hurt it all causes Muriel (and myself) actually feels heavy like wow, either that or it's the undiagnosed mental health problem I share with Muriel showing itself 😬

ANYWAY. I better stop talking about Muriel's route, I'll save that for another post. Back to the blonde himbo we love to hate and hate to love. In his own route the difference is more clear, he doesn't see us as a threat or anything. We end up helping him out unaware of the past because amnesia y'know? I don't remember if Lucio remembers or not, either way he isn't devious and trying to trick us and we help him get a more physical body as the story progresses. Needless to say nobody is happy to find out Lucio is tethered to us

Lucio behaved decently, not gonna lie he was amusing at times. Getting close with his dogs was cute too! I loved how they gradually gravitated to mc it was great. For most of the route we face Lucio's countless past consequences of his actions coming to haunt him, literally

The scene were we end up at the Lazaret was heavy too I think? My memory isn't great ironically. What I do remember is that it was sad seeing how much the realisation of the pain he caused us (death by plague) and perhaps others hurt him. He got very distressed and I felt sorry for him a bit, but he needed to face what he'd done and take accountability.

Once the tone turned less platonic in the route, I was just glad he was being more amusing. Whenever I do the boys' routes I change the pronouns to he/him or they/them to help myself feel more comfortable while playing. In my mind I have different apprentices for almost every route. But it's personal when i play either of the girls routes (like my wife Nadia 🥺🥵 I miss her) I change the pronouns back to she/her for theirs. I'd be nice if there was a she/they option but I'm good with the options they offer us atm.

Lucio is cheeky and more likeable in his own route. We get good dogs. Redeemable Lucio. Lots of helping him face past consequences. Comforting him when he looks like he needs it and us as mc being bad ass. Seriously I felt powerful in this route, Lucio becomes our little hype man without prompting so that was nice.

There was a short time when I thought I'd gotten the reversed ending. Characters started talking about someone needing to replace the devil. I wasn't too sad about it, lesbian or not the concept of Lucio being my devoted dog is a little amusing to me.

But of course at the end I turned the devil to a stone statue along with his monsters? I was having a whale of a time because throughout the whole fight I'd been joking about the devil trying to end the world because of his internalised homophobia. He must have seen all the happy free loving lgbtqa+ peeps and decided his lonely ass was going to "watch the world burn" like Regina George

I felt bad for the Devil honestly, so far we haven't been given a reason behind why he wants to destroy the world. In theory that would also destroy him too as well as the rest of the acarna. So I'm curious about his anger and resentment, maybe it's because everyone keeps trying to lock him up and exclude him? Oooh imagine if the other acarna are the reason why the devil decided to have beef with everything in existence? That would be an interesting twist

Anyway, the ending of Lucio's route was okay. I wasn't the target audience, so maybe for everyone else they might have enjoyed it more. We travel with Lucio going on adventures for money since Lucio gave up being count. His dogs travel with us, when Lucio bought them treats it was oddly wholesome. I was hoping for something a bit more, but I think it fits with his character. Unlike with Nadia in the upright ending where she has gotten married to us, there is no mention of Lucio having married us or anything really. There is a love confession near the end of his route of course, but idk. I was hoping for the wrong thing in the wrong character I guess. Despite that it seems we have a fun and thrilling life with Lucio and the dogs, it's perfect for him and he tries his best. His outfit is similar to the one he used to wear when he was younger, that waist of his is something else.

My favourite elements were the gradual increase of concern Lucio develops for us, the genuine compliments that wasn't meagre flattery and how he started to care for and support us. I don't think I'd play his route again personally, other than to get the reversed ending maybe?

#lucio the goat #lucio x apprentice #the apprentice #the arcana #the arcana game #lucio route #lucio upright route #upright route

[icameheretowinry]

Then asexuality has no meaning or value. What does ace mean if a person who feels sexual attraction or wants to have sex is ace? When I come out as ace. I do not want people to assume I still feel sexual attraction or want sex.

Now, I have clarify that No, I’m actually fully ace.

this is like if someone came out as a lesbian but had to reaffirm that they don’t still feel sexual attraction to men.

I can see where you're coming from, but I think it's too limiting to think of asexuality that way. I don't want to get too far into the weeds with this, so I'm going to do my best to keep it short.

Seeing asexuality as a spectrum lets people who don't perfectly fix into the box of zero sexual attraction use a label they're comfortable with. Like I said, that's why the term gray-ace exists. This is also why orientations like bisexuality and pansexuality were created because some people don't fit perfectly into the boxes of straight, gay or lesbian.

I think a good comparison would be people who use she/they and he/they pronouns. They fall somewhere along the spectrum of gender, but don't quite fit neatly under one specific area. That's how I see asexuality: as a blanket term for people who aren't allosexual.

I'm always interested in getting into the nitty gritty of things, but when it comes down to how people choose to identify themselves, I think it's best to just let people enjoy things.

This isn't a competition. No one needs to "prove" how closely they align with the base definition of an orientation in order to be allowed to use it. If someone says they're ace, bi, aro, gay, nb or whatever, please respect it.

When you start to exclude people from a label they choose to identify with, it starts getting into like "gold-star lesbian"-like discourse, and that's not ok.

The beauty of living in this day and age is that a lot of people have the freedom to pick and choose the labels they want to use to identify themselves, and maybe even change it up along the way. Saying a whole label isn't valid if all those who use it don't fit a very basic and limited definition defeats the whole purpose of having the ability to choose to use it in the first place.

#ace pride #ace discourse #ace #ace positivity #asexuality #gray ace #asexual spectrum #nikki gets asked

[terflogs]

hey, no offense but how exactly can you be a radfem but still be "trans inclusive"? doesn't that kinda.... beat the point? since 99% of radfeminism is just hating males and trans people altogether? like i don't want to sound rude but i'm just getting mixed signals since imo, no trans ally would genuinely call themselves a radfem in any way.

Since the 1970s, there has been a debate among radical feminists about transgender identities. In 1978, the Lesbian Organization of Toronto voted to become womyn-born womyn only and wrote:

A woman's voice was almost never heard as a woman's voice—it was always filtered through men's voices. So here a guy comes along saying, "I'm going to be a girl now and speak for girls." And we thought, "No you're not." A person cannot just join the oppressed by fiat.

Some radical feminists, such as Andrea Dworkin, Catharine MacKinnon, John Stoltenberg and Monique Wittig, have supported recognition of trans women as women, which they describe as trans-inclusive feminism, while others, such as Mary Daly, Janice Raymond, Robin Morgan, Germaine Greer, Sheila Jeffreys, Julie Bindel, and Robert Jensen, have argued that the transgender movement perpetuates patriarchal gender norms and is incompatible with radical-feminist ideology.

Those who exclude trans women from womanhood or women's spaces refer to themselves as gender critical and are referred to by others as trans-exclusionary. Radical feminists in particular who exclude trans women are often referred to as "trans-exclusionary radical feminists" or "TERFs", an acronym to which they object, say is inaccurate (citing, for example, their inclusion of trans men as women), and argue is a slur or even hate speech.

These feminists argue that because trans women are assigned male at birth, they are accorded corresponding privileges in society, and even if they choose to present as women, the fact that they have a choice in this sets them apart from people assigned female. Gender-critical or trans-exclusionary radical feminists in particular say that the difference in behavior between men and women is the result of socialization. Lierre Keith describes femininity as "a set of behaviors that are, in essence, ritualized submission", and hence, gender is not an identity but a caste position, and gender-identity politics are an obstacle to gender abolition.

Julie Bindel argued in 2008 that Iran carries out the highest number of sex-change operations in the world, because "surgery is an attempt to keep gender stereotypes intact", and that "it is precisely this idea that certain distinct behaviours are appropriate for males and females that underlies feminist criticism of the phenomenon of 'transgenderism'." According to the BBC in 2014, there are no reliable figures regarding gender-reassignment operations in Iran.

In The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male (1979), the lesbian radical feminist Janice Raymond argued that "transsexuals ... reduce the female form to artefact, appropriating this body for themselves".

In The Whole Woman (1999), Germaine Greer wrote that largely male governments "recognise as women men who believe that they are women ... because [those governments] see women not as another sex but as a non-sex"; she continued that if uterus-and-ovaries transplants were a mandatory part of sex-change operations, the latter "would disappear overnight". Sheila Jeffreys argued in 1997 that "the vast majority of transsexuals still subscribe to the traditional stereotype of women" and that by transitioning they are "constructing a conservative fantasy of what women should be ... an essence of womanhood which is deeply insulting and restrictive."

 In Gender Hurts (2014), she referred to sex reassignment surgery as "self-mutilation", and used pronouns that refer to biological sex. Jeffreys argued that feminists need to know "the biological sex of those who claim to be women and promote prejudicial versions of what constitutes womanhood", and that the "use by men of feminine pronouns conceals the masculine privilege bestowed upon them by virtue of having been placed in and brought up in the male sex caste".

Then you have Trans-inclusive radical feminists who claim that a biology-based or sex-essentialist ideology itself upholds patriarchal constructions of womanhood. Andrea Dworkin argued as early as 1974 that transgender people and gender identity research have the potential to radically undermine patriarchal sex essentialism:

work with transsexuals, and studies of formation of gender identity in children provide basic information which challenges the notion that there are two discrete biological sexes. That information threatens to transform the traditional biology of sex difference into the radical biology of sex similarity. That is not to say that there is one sex, but that there are many. The evidence which is germane here is simple. The words "male" and "female," "man" and "woman," are used only because as yet there are no others.

In 2015, radical feminist Catherine MacKinnon said:

Male dominant society has defined women as a discrete biological group forever. If this was going to produce liberation, we'd be free ... To me, women is a political group. I never had much occasion to say that, or work with it, until the last few years when there has been a lot of discussion about whether trans women are women ... I always thought I don't care how someone becomes a woman or a man; it does not matter to me. It is just part of their specificity, their uniqueness, like everyone else's. Anybody who identifies as a woman, wants to be a woman, is going around being a woman, as far as I'm concerned, is a woman.

#anti terf #gender critical #radical feminist theory #radical feminists do touch #radical feminists please interact #trans exclusionary radical feminist

[sisterofiris]

@moonbeam-sunbeam (source of screenshot ft. original post - I’m creating a new one because the other one was long and I don’t want to boost OP’s voice again)

I understand where you’re coming from, and when it comes down to the bare bones, I agree: the Gods can’t be defined by human labels. Gods are Gods, not people. They don’t have sexualities, or not in a way that we as human can comprehend, at least - even less in a way that fits neatly into our modern labels. Artemis is not “aroace”, or “lesbian”, or “bisexual”, or “straight”, or any other sexual or romantic identity. She is the Potnia Theron, Lady of what is by definition outside the constructs of our society, and greater than anything our mortal tongues could possibly put into words.

She is also open to be worshipped by anyone. All of the Gods are. There is a common fallacy, in the Hellenic polytheistic community (and in the Pagan community as a whole), that a person can only worship deities who resemble them. This is not only obviously wrong (in Artemis’ case, one need only to look to Hippolytos; see also Xenophon, a presumably straight man who dedicated a temple to her), it also makes no sense. What a strange place Ancient Greece would have been if only kings could worship Zeus! If only musicians and doctors could worship Apollon! If only farmers could worship Demeter! And who would worship Hades - the Dead?

Interestingly, I see this fallacy applied most often to gender and sexuality. I have never heard anyone claim only hunters can worship Artemis, but I have had to reassure an anon that Artemis will still accept her now that she’s sexually active. I think this is, in part, where the belief that applying certain orientations to deities is restrictive comes from - because if you believe people can only worship deities like them, then viewing a deity as part of X group means that only X group can worship them. I’ll say it again: this is historically inaccurate to Hellenic polytheism, unsustainable considering the many facets of the Gods and the impossibility to fit them into modern categories, and needlessly exclusive. If you relate to Artemis - and even if you don’t - you can worship her, full stop.

But I also think this excessive focus on gender and sexuality as restrictive highlights a trend that can be seen in society at large. Often, whenever a person, character, or in this case a deity is presented as non-straight, many (usually straight) people will denounce it as unnecessary, even graphic information. Queer-coded relationships are played off as “open to interpretation”, and explicit interpretation of them as queer is “pushing an agenda”. Having a non-straight orientation (or not being cisgender) becomes a limitation on what someone could be, and by extension, on how others can relate to them - as if it isn’t simply another experience one can have of life, just like having brown eyes or being left-handed.

The fact is that everything we represent the Gods as is limiting. Every single word we use to express divinity is reducing it to something we understand and are comfortable with. We have no choice but to do this, because the wholeness of a God’s being kills mortals (see: Semele). Depicting the Gods as human is limiting them. Using gendered pronouns is limiting them. Calling them by Greek names is limiting them. All of those are traditions meant to help us relate to non-human beings, but somehow, it’s the projection of queer identities onto them that is singled out as restrictive.

Again, I’m not saying Artemis is any specific non-straight orientation. None of us know that, nor if it’s even possible for her to have an orientation. What I’m saying is that she was described in certain terms by the Ancient Greeks, along with all her other characteristics, and those terms fit within the definition of what modern people call “aromantic asexual” (or, according to others, “lesbian” - like I previously stated, one being attested does not exclude the other). As an aroace myself, there is no reason why this cannot be one reason I relate to her. She is freedom, yes, and that means many things to many people; one of those, to me, is the freedom to be myself and to prefer the wilderness over someone’s embrace. I love the Potnia Theron, with all this heart of mine that has been called loveless, because she reminds me that who I am is sacred. She has done the same for others, in many different ways, none of which are worth any less, none of which restrict her worship to those who share them, none of which restrict her at all, because it is through the multitudes of human echoes that we find in her that we can glimpse her true greatness.

#bottom line: someone saying they relate to a deity based on a specific experience that they recognise in how that deity is depicted #and someone saying that a deity IS a thing and others MUST agree #and someone saying ONLY people who are that thing can worship that deity #are not the same thing #also in case it wasn't clear - this is meant in a friendly tone #i'm not annoyed with the screenshotted person i'm just explaining my perspective #artemis* #hellenic polytheism #Hellenismos

[seer-of-lxght]

My friend (@CATBOYHIFUMI on Twitter) and I coined a new term, Ironet(ian), for those who feel discomforted or alienated from the lesbian label due to nonlesbians insisting it may include men or that male-aligned nonbinary people may use it.

You have no obligation to use this term if you do not wish to and we are both open to constructive criticism and suggestions.

[Edit 1]: Please do not harass or send asks to those who reblog this post inquiring its nature, I absolutely do not want to impose hate, stress, or otherwise negative scenarios or emotions onto other people due to them reblogging this specific post. If you have inquiries, concerns, or other statements please send them to me directly. I will do my best to clear up anything.

The meaning of the term in full is as follows:

Ironet. A term for women and appropriately comfortable nonbinary peoples to describe their sole attraction to the such at the complete exclusion of men and male-aligned persons. 

This exists as a term for lesbians who have felt alienated or discomforted from their label due to the push for its inclusion of men by nonlesbians or general treatment of of it being an umbrella term; this is a new label without history and thus, it holds an inarguable nature and definition.

[Edit 2]: To emphasize and further explain why my friend and I coined this label, the implications that I could be or, in fact, AM attracted to men makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable and physically nauseous (in the simplest terms, yet in those that downplay both my physical and mental responses’ extremities that I have no dire need to explain) and I need a label for my own personal comfort and wellbeing that excludes them. I understand and know I am not alone in this experience and wish to give this same comfort to those who have a similar reaction or otherwise feel uncomfortable at the implications of being attracted to men due to their own personal experiences.

[Edit 2 (cont.)]: In case this needs to be cleared up, I meant no offense to mspec folx or those who are otherwise attracted to men with this as it would be ridiculous to imply that liking men in any way is inherently bad, some folx just need a label that excludes them for our personal comfort and to be able to describe our attraction as what it is.

Similarly, it exists to completely include those women or appropriate nonbinary people who do not use she/her pronouns, unaligned nonbinary people who feel connected to the label and nonbinary persons in general provided they are not male-aligned, and trans women/trans fem people as, needless to say, they are women or valid within their experienced gender.

Conversely, it excludes trans men or male-aligned people as they are men or are linked to men in some way, shape, or form. 

[Edit 3]: Ironet completely inclusive of those who are multigender, have fluid genders, etc. As a bigender lesbian myself who is both agender and genderfluid, it would be incredibly hypocritical of me to exclude us. The label is also inclusive of trans masc. individuals as they are not inherently male.

[Edit 3 (cont.)]: Again, as a nonbinary person myself I well understand that it’s incredibly difficult to surmize the whole of the experience with being nonbinary in spare few sentences, especially in these specific terms due to it being much more than a mere spectrum, but a universe of experiences. Please message me if you have any specific concerns or inquiries.

Note: “Appropriately comfortable nonbinary peoples” is repeatedly expressed in this way as not all n.b folx are comfortable with a(n) lesbian/ironetian being attracted to them due to its inherently feminine connotations or they would not be comfortable with using the label(s) for this reason.

 "Ironet(ian)" in itself is derived from the nature of chivalry, or, more specifically, the word's association with knighthood and armour's association with metal, and thus, iron. 

The term may not have modifiers attached to it (such as bi or pan ironet) spare if they are acespec or arospec identities, such as aro ironet or demi- ironet. This is not a term that can be used if you are attracted to men and nor can it be modified to imply this. 

Flag stripe meanings:

Dark Green: Chivalry 

Lime: Freedom and tranquility 

Faint purple: Harmony, unity, and different experiences uniting under a common label and community 

Pink: Love, intimate relationships, and sex | Support and kindness 

Magenta: Hope, a new beginning 

#lesbian #wlw #sapphic #lgbtq #pride flag #mogai #alternate lesbian label

[trashcatsnark]

What’s your opinion on Kerry being available to only male V when it’s mentioned in-game that he’s bi (correct me if I’m wrong, I have terrible memory)?? I feel like they should’ve had bi romance options if they were able to implement both gay and straight ones.

Oh anon, oooooh anon. I love you dearly, but you intentionally or not might as well have thrown lit dynamite in my ask box. This discourse has been such a strange beast within this fandom and I have definitely shared some vague thoughts about it before. I’m putting everything under a read more, to help stave off some....harassment or putting it in people’s lives who may not want it. 

 I still remember I was frankly heartbroken and upset when I first learned Kery wasn’t romanceable by female V when the game first officially came out, but before I played it; River and Panam weren’t even really known about, cause they weren’t talked about much in the promo material,  plus Kerry was shown in romance scenes with what looked to be female V. So, if you go back far enough you’ll find me in December cope posting and being the saddest and angriest of beans, because other than Johnny who I knew was likely off the table. He was one of the only characters I wanted to potentially romance. Now, I’m further away from it, have  processed my feelings regarding it and am more rational I believe regarding the issue. 

But, that being said, a large issue of this sort of discourse is that; no matter what anyone says, someone somwhere is upset. I’ve been insulted, blocked, accused of fetishizing gay men, and so much over my opinion regarding this matter. I’m still currently debating if I even wanna tag this, cause the issue almost always brings negativity to my blog and to me. I have very little interest in being berated for this, so we’ll see how I feel after I finish typing this all out. I’m going to try to go through all my issues, my points, my troubles and feelings about the matter. But, at the end of the day, it is merely my opinion. If someone disagrees, fine, just don’t attack people or berate them over pixels in a video game. Just dont. That’s all I ask. Okay, so I’m gonna divide this into talking points and whatever, now. 

Firstly, Kerry is bisexual. Point blank, period. I’ve seen folks try to argue that his wife was like comphet, which if you dont know means that sometimes exclusively homosexual people will try to force themselves into heterosexual relationships because society has conditioned them to believe they have to be straight. While, I’m not negating the fact that this happens, as a bisexual/pansexual (I use the terms interchangeably to define my experience and feelings)  person I’ve struggled with it when making sense of my attraction to women. It genuinely is something that happens. This is not the case for Kerry; he doesn’t ever hide his attraction to men, between TTRPG lore and the video game he has had two wives , and he is stated by game developers and TTRPG creator to be bisexual.He is bisexual. Getting that out there, saying other wise, in my opinion is a level of bi erasure. That being said, I do still have my grievances with how the game chose to handle his bisexuality and bisexuality as whole, also imo, the game generally doesn’t seem...to treat players who are attracted to men well… 

But before I get into that, I wanna make clear, I feel like Cyberpunk 2077 should have had more romance options for every orientation. If you’re not going to create a player-sexual style of romance; ie where every romanceable character is attracted to the player regardless and wish to focus on each character having their own predetermined sexuality; only have one character for each sexuality is kind of bullshit. If you’re a lesbian player and you’re not into Judy, you get nothing, except a fuck around with Meredith (who I will get to later). You’re a straight woman, but not into River, shit out of luck. You’re a gay man who’s not into Kerry, sucks to suck bud. You’re a straight man who’s not into Panam (kind dont get how you wouldn’t be but who am i to judge), well, you can fuck Meredith… so woooo. Oh also, if you’re not attracted to women, you will still be forced to watch in first person pov a sex scene with Alt and if you want Johnny to like you, you gotta date a girl. Also, all the male love interests will be sidelined mostly…. Hooray… But I digress, either go in with all romance options bi/pan/player sexual, or give more options for romance. Cause now you have the issue of people not getting the partner they hoped for and not liking their only option. Now, you got people trying to make the Judy  bi, which is lesbian erasure and lesbophobic, along with people saying Kerry isn’t bi and can’t be with women which is bi erasure and biphobic. Whereas, if you had just gone in from the get go with either more options or a player-sexual romance system; we wouldn’t be here, CDPR. 

Okay, so next thing, now that I’ve addressed my issues with the entire romance system and that yes, Kerry is bi. Should Kerry have been able to be romanced as female V? Yes and no. Which sounds vague, but I’m going somewhere. With the current set up of it; Kerry being romanceable to a female V would have unfairly given female players an additional love interest over male players. Female V would have the option of Judy, River, or Kerry. And Male V’s would have the option of Kerry or Panam. That’s not fair. I get that, inherently. CDPR painted themselves into a corner, by only letting there be two romances for “each” gender, one for “each” sexuality, and then using a canonically bi character for one of them. They played themselves, they were either gonna have to give an unfair amount of love interest to one side of their gender system or make a bi character who will only pursue one gender. So, they went for the latter. 

Now, some people feel thats fine, because Kerry having a gender preference is fine and its okay for bi people to lean a certain way in regards to gender and its okay for them to not be attracted to people. And that is true. I am a bisexual woman who leans a little more towards men, I get that. However, I have only been given one reason for Kerry’s preference for male V over female V. And it was by a developer of the game who stated that Kerry pursues Male V and not Female V because Male V reminds him more of Johnny… And I hate that. I personally, hate it so deeply, because to me it does a complete disservice to Kerry and V’s relationship and Kerry’s arc. Because even with female V you see him being preoccupied with Johnny and V’s connection to Johnny, then you see him move past that. So, to then state, its still a deciding factor in him romancing V is so wrong to me. Like why???? Why would you do that to people who like Kerry??? Why would you put that in their heads, that Kerry on some level, subconsciously or not, was thinking about Johnny when he decides to romance V. Cause that’s not in the game, in the game you get the vibe he’s moving on past Johnny, like he’s growing, developing, genuinely likes V. But that stupid tweet, just radiates rancid vibes, whyyy???  

And then, outside of that nasty tweet, I have to ask what other reason is there for why he prefers male V over fem V.  They’re...the same characters essentially, just with different pronouns and body type. They also can look like whatever you want; they’re completely customizable. So, Its based off of what the game associates with  gender characteristics and nothing else, meaning, his attraction is rooted solely in their gender and he turns down fem V by virtue of them being a woman and nothing else. Which, yeah, bisexual/pansexual people have preferences but when that preference completely excludes a gender based on nothing but gender…. Uhh????? See my issue???? 

And I’ve seen people saying, well, its better than CDPR playing into slutty will date anybody bisexual stereotypes. But, the thing is...THEY STILL DO THAT which is what drives me up the god damn wall; they managed to do slutty bi stereotypes and I don’t even get kiss the boy, which again, I get the need for fairness but wow, just wow. And lemme explain. 

Meredith is the only character, other than joytoys, whom you can have sex with regardless of gender, body type, etc. She is the only character who shows that she is attracted to V on some level regardless of gender. 

She is a one night stand. Her sex animations are the same as joytoys. She treated like a promiscuous love phobic woman.  And having characters like that is fine, my own V is promiscuous and love phobic. But, we can acknowledge that in a video game by a AAA game company having the only character who is at least physically attracted to the player no matter what, be nothing but sex fodder...isn’t great bi representation, right? 

Oh, and Kerry himself still is a promiscuous bisexual man, he just won’t romance female V because apparently, according to a dev, they don’t remind him of Johnny enough. AND THATS THE DEVS WORDS, NOT MINE, I HATE THAT. Like, Kerry is shown to have people’s lingerie around his house. He’s stated by Johnny to be someone who fucks around. He gets a blowjob from a man in a stairwell. 

The two most blatantly canonically bi character in this game are promiscuous; one wont romance V at all and just wants sex, the other will only romance a male V because at worse, he’s comparing them mentally subconsciously to his dead friend and at best….because….reasons…. Literally, from what I understand for Kerry to romance V, they have to have the “male” body type and “male” voice. Meaning, fem V could literally by all appearances look like masc V, body type wise, but because she uses female pronouns and has a feminine sounding voice...no… the stars say no… 

In my honest opinion, it is bad bisexual representation and a not so well thought out romance system for a game. 

But, that being said, I literally never romance anyone, because I’m a Johnny simp. So, the fuck do I know.

oh god do i tag this.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

#anon #asks #i can't put these in the main tags or kerry's i cant #im so weary of this #im sorry anon #im a pussy who's grown so weary of discourse #Anonymous

[bionicdragonguardian1]

Ranma 2/4

Yup... I’m doing it... yes this how I plan, shut up

Part One: Chapters 1-12

Genderfluid Ranma Saotome

Bisexual Akane Tendo

BAMF!Akane if it kills me

More modern America take on LGBTQIA+ themes

Bisexual Ryoga Hibiki

Fuck the Kunos

Full Series AU because I am a fool who doesn’t know restraint

Magic Rules are a thing

I am actually going to keep a consistent timeline if it kills me

I have a PLAN

Very Minor changes to the actual plot cuz economics

Bad Parenting is addressed

Harassment is Addressed

I will make them acknowledge Physics/Medical because I’m an asshole

Pulling from both the Anime and the Manga

Still working through the Manga as I plot

Friendly reminder that Genma is crap

Friendly reminder that Nodoka is crazy

Poor Mousse

Soun Tendo TRIES really hard but grief fucking sucks

Nabiki is morally grey

Toxic Shampoo

Kasumi gets Character Development or so help me

polyship cuz surprises

I promise I do love this anime

I’m just stunned that so many people didn’t get a lot of character development

Actual fucking ENDING

I do actually hate Shampoo tho

I watch dubs

Ranma slowly starts using they/them pronouns vs switching

Ranma wears a bra, fuck you

Yes I’m using 2020 LGBT stuff BUT I will keep the tech as close to the 90s as I can (tho fair warning I was BORN in the 90s)

Toxic Masculinity addressed (yes I mean Ranma’s)

Ranma is awkward as hell

bc that’s what happens when you isolate a child, Genma!

Also, they spent closer to 1-2 months in China bc of how many things happen while they’re there

Homophobic/Transphobic Language

Ranma uses Ranko WAY more often cuz it makes sense

Tatewaki is actually not as stupid as he is in canon, but he’s worse

Kodachi… on the other hand... IS stupid

Canon Heights are used (hence the “actual magic” tag, it’s how Kuno explains it and is still wrong)

Ranma is a shitty liar, and trusts his friends (kinda)

I’ve never like Shampoo, I don't hide that

While reading the manga I’ve realized how often Ranma wears a hat in the early chapters

I love it

Laws Exist

Rule Enforcement

Adults aren’t useless

Demiromantic Ranma

Ace/Demisexual Ranma (I haven’t decided yet)

Demiromantic Akane

Pansexual Ryoga

YES Akane is Bisexual AND Demiromantic. It’s a thing!

Genma is a sonnova bitch and piece o shit

Diasuke x Hiroshi

Sayuri x Yuka

Polyamory discussions

Hiroshi x Yuka

Protective Ranma

Protective Akane

Protective Ryoga

Tendos adopt Ryoga bc they care

Cologne sucks, I didn’t realize that was justified until now

Minor Anime over Manga Arc Choices

People aren’t oblivious those around Ranma a lot pick up on the transformation thing (eventually)

Ryoga’s crush on Akane turns into something normal, I may be ~Aro but even I know that’s bad

The “Akane Can’t Cook” Joke was funny once or twice; NOT the whole series Akane learns to cook

WAY fucking sooner than she did in the Anime

Look, I get the stereotype but it’s NOT funny!

Manga Chapt6Pt3 cover gave me too many ideas for what I want to do to Ryoga & IDK how I feel (Tiny pigtailed girl Ryoga is just too cute that I want to drop him the niángnìquán)

I will use Wiki-Mandarin-Spellings for Jusenkyo Springs cuz I don’t understand a lick of Chinese

Certain Arcs will be skipped entirely because I HATED THEM (any time they showed up)!

YEET Tea Ceremony Arc(s), mainly cuz an outsider I didn’t get it like I’m sure I was supposed to

If I could just kill Happosai I would, but I can’t

Expect him to be VERY dead/gone post-Canon

Fair warning tho cuz I hate him more than I hate Shampoo or Cologne

Shampoo still sucks

I wish the scene w Hiro/Dai was in the Anime cuz it’s hilarious

Ranma’s hat is back! I love it!

Is… is Ranma ADHD or is that me projecting again?

God, these two are hopeless dorks

Was someone going to TELL me that Ranma’s classmates figured out the transformation BEFORE the Romeo thing or was I just supposed to sit there stunned when it happened?!?

Goddammit, I hate Romeo and Julliet

I don’t mean the ep, I mean the play/movie/etc cuz my school years have done it 1.6 million times that I just can’t stand it anymore

Gosunkugi… wtf is wrong with you?

STILL hate this play

I’m American, ok

this has been shoved down my throat since I was 8 so It never occured to me that Ranma not knowing Romeo & Julliet at all wouldn’t be weird

Ranma learns his lines (kinda)

Kuno is 600% the reason they go off script

...And Gosunkugi being creepy af

TBH where they go off script (like Akane’s sleep scene) I’ll probs redo purely cuz I know this play

Still hate this play

Lol, tape ain’t a thing, that’s hilarious

Ranma kissing Kuno, yes

Akane kissing Ranma, NO

It’s called FAKING it

You either get over it or learn to fake it

Is it wrong that it’s tempting to get rid of P-chan in chapt8?

Don’t answer that… I know it is

Akane you need to learn to trust Ranma

Like seriously… that’s the 1 thing that drove me batty

100% going for the Anime version of the Japanese Speong of Drowned Man cuz it’s funnier

(I’m still tempted to change Ryoga)

Since the Cookie thing came before any comment about Akane’s cooking (Anime) I just figured Ranma was like me and can’t eat a ton of processed sugar (yes, make you that sick) so... HEADCANON!!

But Ranma’s still awkward af talking about it

Yup, subbing out Sasuke for Gosunkugi

Ranma not realizing his dad was committing crimes NEEDS to be handled better

I see angst potential

Ukyo is def still cis-fem, that point at least works

Ukyo’s dad is NOT in the clear here

Friendly reminder that Genma TOLD Mr. Kuonji that Ranma had a fiancée

Jealous Ranma’s fun

Ranma… just cuz you’ve 6.5k fiancé doesn’t mean everyone does

I’m just saying, Ryoga only falls for Ranma

Is Ranma wearing a binder while cursed bad? I honestly don’t know…

Poor Ranma, I’d DIE!

Obvs changing the rules of the pill from “first person of the opp sex”

I’m thinking “first person you’d be attracted to” cuz it’s nice and inclusive and won’t make someone fall for someone they wouldn’t normally

I’m just tryin’ to avoid some gayboy from fallin’ for a girl or some straight girl fallin’ for a girl

I mean Ranma’s still gonna Insta Cologne

Rule gets stricter the longer the pill lasts

also incest needs to be excluded

Look, I am NOT condoning Mousse’s obsession

but Shampoo still sucks

Is me making Tsubasa mtf bad?

Someone tell me cuz I’m not sure

I think I accidentally made Ukyo transphobic… oops

Redemption? Hopefully, idk yet

Do you realize how much anti LGBT shit I have to work through?!?

Tsubasa’s issue is 600% that she’s a lesbian so Ranma being a guy (even sometimes) weirds her out which for the record is FINE since they haven’t been dating at all & Ranma didn’t tell her!

The ½ white ½ brown dog IS actually Ryoga’s?!?

I didn’t know I needed this!

Also she’s staying!

Is Sasuke an Anime character?!?! Idk how I feel about this…

Ranma is a little shit & I love it

My idea may’ve been wrong (and Ranma!) but I love the idea had that I’m tempted do it anyway

Alright, Ranma is def going too far… even I can admit that

I’m quite sad this arc wasn’t animated

I don’t know which one I want! Kuno sick vs sneezing cat?

I can’t pick!

They’re both perfect!

Yup, Shampoo is evil

Akane… tone down the weapons kay?

#ranma 1/2 #ranma saotome #ranma #ranma ½ #akane tendo #ryoga hibiki #fanfiction writing #fic plots #shampoo #mousse #cologne #can i kill Happosai?!? #PLEASE #kasumi tendo #nabiki tendo #soun tendo #genma saotome #nodoka ​saotome

[faemytho]

ds // onebizarrekai

so uh. tobin has some really nice headcanons.

tags: transphobia, homophobia, implied sexual assault, implied murder, coming out story, internal misgendering, unintentional misgendering

this is also very unedited bc im Tired, gay, and pls look at these trans boys i love them

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

The seed of a thought first planted itself when Dream had talked about her to the villagers. He'd been gesturing gently, spine ramrod straight and poised into the perfect picture of composure. A particularly nasty one yelled loud enough for Nightmare to hear.

"She's a witch, and she protects nothing but trouble!"

Nightmare had hidden under the covers the whole day after that, squishing her chest uncomfortably against the mattress and feeling sick to her stomach.

Dream didn't bother her.

----

She cursed, stumbling over the uneven pavement, her cape flying out behind her. Stupid fucking guards. Stupid fucking justice initiative. Where was her justice, huh?

"Did you think of that, Dream?" She muttered, slipping around a corner and inside the building she'd just rounded. She didn't stay long, fleeing out the back. She hated her voice, though she couldn't quite pinpoint why. She didn't exactly have time to either. You didn't have time to sit and dawdle when your best fucking friend was trying to hunt you down with his freaky ass wings and new glowing eyes and spouting off the same nonsense she'd heard from the villagers her whole life. She figured it was something that would happen, Dream turning against her, but she never thought he would go this far, to this degree. And it hurt.

Holding her breath, she pressed herself against the wall, peeking around the corner. Clear.

She'd live another day.

----

"Oh, Margaret, did you hear what happened at the Stonewall Inn?"

"Of course I did, everyone's heard of it by now."

Nightmare paused, listening in. She wasn't exactly sure why. But the two women sitting at the outside café said nothing else about it, and eventually went on their ways. Nightmare watched one of them reach out to squeeze the other's hand, gently, before they left. Lesbians, then. Not that Nightmare had a problem with them, but it was dangerous to be affectionate in public if you were queer.

She meant to forget about it, but Stonewall Inn nagged at her mind, and she went to go find it herself.

She learned a lot about herself that day.

----

Nightmare felt comfortable, for once. That was saying something. He hadn't felt very comfortable in his own body since that day in the village. At least the name 'Nightmare' wasn't gendered. He didn't want to change it.

He kept his hair long at first, only binding when he went out. He was proud of himself for even going this far in his presentation.

The first time it happened, the person was drunk and handsy, and Nightmare had frozen up, his skin crawling and no longer feeling like his own.

He cut his hair after that.

But it kept happening, more people, different places.

He didn't keep count.

----

How his skin prickled. Dream had caught him, but there were alarms going off, and for once it wasn't his fault. When all the guards left, he fled the cell, and ran right into a face he only just barely recognized.

"I thought I told you to stay the fuck away from JR!" He snapped, grabbing them by the hand and dragging them with him.

He'd met Cross that day. Cross didn't ask him questions. Cross was useful.

Most importantly, Cross was a friend, and when Nightmare came out to him, he understood.

Most of it.

Error was the same way.

----

"Yo, Night, your binder's clean."

"Thank fucking god, you're a lifesaver Error, my lifeblood," Nightmare declared, his voice still light and floaty, and in his opinion, undermining his very important announcement.

Error muttered obscenely under his breath, tossing the fabric at him haphazardly from where he sat buried on the couch in blankets. Cross sat on the floor in front of him, mashing the buttons on his controller and hardly paying attention. Error sat down next to him, and Nightmare took the opportunity to shuck his top off and slip the binder over his head.

"You really shouldn't wear it at home," Error muttered, not looking at him while he pulled his top back on.

"Where the fuck else am I gonna wear it? Running for my life? Can barely breathe correctly after that, y'know," Nightmare snarked back, reaching out to gently flick the back of Error's head. His friend gave a little start, before turning his head back to face him.

"Well," Error started, unsure of himself now. He crossed his arms, huffing. "Still."

Nightmare snorted, burrowing back underneath the blankets. Life was good.

----

"You are going to come quietly, and you will not make a fuss."

Dream looked strangely cruel in that moment, and Nightmare hated it, his aura flaring lowly. The guards behind him held his wrists behind his back, and the guards beside him gripped his forearms tightly. He'd given up on struggling, figuring that it'd just be easier go and break out later. Error and Cross had gotten away, after all. They'd come back for him.

Dream turned away from him, calling back to the guards.

"Make sure she's properly restrained."

Nightmare felt as though he'd been dunked in ice cold water. He hadn't been called 'she' for a long time. It sunk down his chest like a stone, growing heavier and heavier, and he was suddenly very aware of his binder around his chest.

Ink, by Dream's side, watched him. Not that he noticed.

----

"I'm not sure why you thought changing your appearance so drastically would keep me from finding you."

Nightmare huffed, glaring at Dream from behind the bars on the door. He sat on the bed provided, his knees pulled up to his chest. He'd never hated his body so much before.

"I'm not sure why how I choose to appear is any of your freaking business, Your Highness," he snarked, and Dream's stoic expression twitched momentarily into irritation.

"It hardly matters much now, Nightmare. You've always been this way," Dream sighed, turning away from the cell.

Nightmare put his head down, tears burning in the corners of his eyes.

"Guard her cell."

Dream's footsteps faded, and he was left alone with his thoughts, hoping Error and Cross would come soon.

They did.

They always did.

----

"You're trans, right?"

Nightmare stopped in his tracks. He knew it was dangerous to keep his back turned to Justice Reigns's top mercenary, but he was too shocked to do anything but freeze up.

A hand rested on his shoulder and he whacked it off, turning to look up into Ink's eyes.

"Why do you want to know?" He snapped, his voice that light and reedy tone he hated. Feminine. Not what he was.

"Figured it was worth asking." Ink shrugged, sliding his paint brush into the holder across his back. He shoved his hands in his pockets and Nightmare took a step back, tensing up. He didn't like how relaxed Ink was, half expecting an ambush from Justice Reigns guards.

"... Yes, I am. What's it to you?" He snapped, and he cringed silently, hating how high his voice was.

"Same hat. What pronouns?"

Nightmare stopped, blinking stupidly. "He, him. Why."

Ink shrugged again, a ghost of a smile twitching against his mouth. "You on hormones?"

"Uh, no? Nowhere to get them. Nowhere safe, at least." He gripped his staff tighter, knuckles turning white.

"I can fix that."

"You're not safe."

"You think Justice Reigns isn't safe?" Ink paused. "Don't answer that. My point is, I can get you hormones. I already get my own testosterone, nobody'll suspect if I'm the one to smuggle you some."

Nightmare breathed out slowly, hating the feeling of hope bubbling in his chest.

"I literally meant you, shitwit. Why would you help me anyways?"

"Not being able to pass isn't fun. It's free at Justice Reigns, you know. Binders, hormones, surgeries. All that shit. Not very 'just' to exclude you."

It didn't make sense to him, why Ink wanted to help. Maybe somewhere in there, Ink had made some alternate connection that Nightmare couldn't understand, because Ink had actually shown up the next week, handed him the case he said he would, and left. No ambush, no Justice Reigns guards, no Dream.

Life was great.

----

Life was, decidedly, not so great.

Dream stared down at him, eyes wide.

Calloused hands cupped his face, and Nightmare couldn't breathe, couldn't move as Dream's eyes flickered over his features, confused and uncertain. It was almost unbearable, seeing Dream without the spark of recognition in his eyes for him.

Nightmare coughed, and the sound came out deeper than it ever had before. His voice had changed, finally, thanks to the testosterone shots Ink was supplying him with. He didn't actually care who they were from, as long as he had them in the first place. Ink had been trustworthy in one regard.

"... Nightmare?" Dream started, and Nightmare took a step back, away from Dream's hands, reaching up to rub nervously at the stubble that had started to grow. Dream's gaze hardened.

"Nightmare-"

He fled.

Dream didn't chase him.

----

"Why wouldn't she tell me?"

"He."

"Why wouldn't he tell me?"

Ink shrugged, flopping on one of the couches in Dream's office and pulling out his phone.

"I mean, not like he could just waltz up to you and say 'hey Dream, guess what I'm trans', you know?"

Dream let out a long breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"And just how long have you been meeting up with her- him, to supply her- him, with these hormones?"

Ink snorted, looking vaguely amused at Dream's furious attempts to correct himself.

"A while now. I mean, dude's on the run, where else is he gonna get hormones he knows are safe?"

Dream sighed and dropped his head in his hands, slumping in his chair.

"I need to go through all his paperwork," he muttered, sounding vaguely horrified. Ink snickered, looking up from his phone.

"See? You're getting it."

----

"Stop him!"

Nightmare skidded around the corner, laughing gleefully and dodging a swipe from Ink's brush. Black paint splattered the wall beside him, and he hooked his staff into the building ahead of him and vaulted on top of it.

"Do not let him and his accomplices get away, Nightmare must be detained now."

From the rooftops, he could see Dream, giving orders in a voice that easily carried over the buildings. Dream caught his eye, and he grinned. He hadn't ever felt so euphoric before.

Dream raised a brow at his smile, a smile of his own rising from sheer disbelief. It made Nightmare cackle and continue running.

Error was just below, and Cross was fighting off the guards nearby.

"Nightmare man, c'mon!" Error shouted, ripping open a portal. Cackling still, Nightmare tumbled down from the roof, kicking against the wall and rolling to the ground. He knocked the last two guards over the heads and rushed for the portal.

"Nightmare, stop!"

"Shit," Cross swore, raising his knife and backing up slowly. Nightmare turned, and Dream stood there in the mouth of the alley.

"You can all come quietly, or we can take you back by force."

Nightmare snorted, unable to keep the smile off his face.

"Sorry, got plans and my boyfriends said I can't. Maybe you can take me out another time, though. Dinner and a movie?"

Error snorted and Cross burst out laughing, and Dream, to their surprise, huffed and sheathed his sword.

"Insufferable. Very well then," Dream spoke, his face carefully blank. "Though I am choosing the movie."

Nightmare sputtered, and Cross immediately hooked his arms underneath Nightmare's, proceeding to haul him back through the portal.

Dream let them go.

#ds

[thereisnowinning]

A talk about gender(s) and sexuality

These are just some of my opinions, so you don’t have to agree with them. But I’m just putting this here for people who might need to hear it. Because I know I did. 

I’m gonna start with gender first, since I know more about that lmfao. 

Okay, firstly, and I cannot stress this enough: YOU DO NOT NEED DYSPHORIA TO BE TRANS OR ANYTHING ELSE.  This is such a stupid concept to me, “needing” dysphoria to be trans. I don’t have dysphoria but I am not: 100% female. When I first starting questioning things, I was convinced I needed to hate my body. You don’t need to. It can get fuckin confusing at times and even now I still don’t know what I am. If you have dysphoria, I’m very sorry, I’m sure it sucks.  But if you don’t, do not feel like to need to. You can not have dysphoria and still be not cis. I needed to hear this, so hopefully, to anybody reading this question, this might help a little. 

If you’re nb and use she/her or he/him pronouns still, that is 100% valid!!! You’re still nb, no matter what you want to go by! And I find this being very different from demiboy or demigirl because you’re nonbinary, you don’t identify as anything. If you’re a demiboy or girl, you’re sometimes that gender.  If you’re nb and use your old pronouns because it’s what you’re used to and/or comfortable with, literally nothing is stopping you. You do whatever makes you comfortable because at the end of the day, that’s what’s important. 

I don’t know if this is a big thing or whatever but if you have no idea what the fuck you are and decide to be genderfluid just so you have the full package, 100% okay!!!! In fact, I found that helps to find out what you are more because you’ll probably realize you have pronouns you prefer. 

Now, this one is probably a controversial opinion, but it’s okay to find a gender you’re comfortable in and stay there for years and wake up one day thinking maybe it isn’t right. That’s completely normal and okay. People change all the time, and you don’t have to fit in a singular label. It’s okay to be nb and one day think “maybe I’m trans” or be trans and one day think “maybe I’m nb” it is! 100% okay!!!!    In my life I have literally been: Genderfluid Nb Female Male genderfluid Demiboy Demigirl nb male genderfluid. 

All in that order. There is no right or wrong. Change as many times as you need to. Or even want to. 

he/him lesbians are valid you cannot change my mind. 

Now onto sexuality. 

Literally not much to say here except it’s all valid and 10/10. And despite what people sometimes say, there’s nothing wrong with experimenting. As long as you don’t take advantage of people, obvs. 

Oh, and being bisexual doesn’t exclude dating trans people, just saying.

I can’t really think of anything else to put here, but mostly the whole gender thing was on my mind. That’s what I really wanted to put down, let people know it’s okay to change and of the sorts. 

#gender #transgender #genderfluid #nonbinary #he him lesbian #sexuality #Bisexual #opinions #Also I'm not going to get into any heated debates with anyone #but literally just be yourselves #grow and don't be afraid to change #it's all okay #and if it's not now #it will be

[unwoundbobbin]

Nine Worlds 2018 - Sunday & Homeward

This write up is bought to you by a pack of Nerds, so who the hell knows how coherent it will be by the end.

(Actual footage of me)

From Saturday!

Sunday:

Our Last Best Hope for Science Fiction: 25 Years of Babylon 5

A look at a ground breaking sci-fi series, celebrating a show we love and how it grew from a something set on a space station to something truly special.

(Two Centauri, a starfleet officer, and a Morden(?) walk in to a panel...)

This is the panel I missed the talk on Golems for, and much as I wanted to see the Golems, this was 100% worth the trade, because I’ve never met that many people who are in to B5 before, and it was a really funny and thought provoking panel with some beautiful moments in it, including the moments of silence when we remembered those from the Babylon 5 family who have gone beyond the rim.

There was also discussion of favourite moments from Babylon 5. Mine has to be this, from the Centauri’s final assault on the Narn Homeworld. Peter Jurasik’s acting is superb here, but I love that the writers and director made a place in that episode to show the flipping of Mollari when he realises what he’s done - how out of control and repelled he feels by what should be a moment of triumph. And the moment he starts to work his way back towards some sort of redemption.

I think my favourite quote of the whole thing was by the person cosplaying as Londo Mollari:

"Behold minbari Jesus - his name is Jeff" 

(This psycop lurked for the entire panel. It’s as perfectly creepy and wonderful as it sounds. When I mentioned that on twitter, it devolved in to a Babylon 5 pun war...)

When I came out of the B5 panel, the one person I’d seen with a brain slug had become a collective. And they continued to grow in number throughout Sunday. Props to the person who spent an entire year making brain slugs to give away to strangers at Nine Worlds.

(The frightening brain slug collective. They continued to multiply throughout the day. Possibly the creepiest cosplay of the weekend, just because they continued to multiply.)

History’s Hidden Heroes III

Following two years of back-to-back success, the ‘History's Hidden Heroes’ session returns to its original format of ten to fifteen minute mini-talks by individual presenters discussing their favourite figures lost - or pushed aside - from mainstream history. Introduction by EK McAlpine, with talks from Tara, Avery, and Reiley.

This session was run by EK, and the speakers were Avery Delany, Tara Brown, and Reiley Daniels who all spoke about people in history who were part of the LGBTQ community, including some who were trans (though not remembered that way), some who were gender non-conforming, some who were openly queer at a time when that was (more) dangerous than now.

Avery spoke about trans masculine people in history, including a pioneering doctor, James Barry (note - while that Wiki article generally avoids using any pronouns at all, there is a source from the time quoted that misgenders Barry, so be careful if that would cause you any distress).

My favourite quote from Avery was “Do some queer history“, but I also really appreciated something I didn’t get the exact words of, but amounted to the idea that someone wouldn’t live as a gender different to the one they were assigned at birth for over 50 years if they did not actually identify as that gender. I really wish I’d got the actual words, because that quote stuck with me as much as anything.

Tara Brown spoke about three women of colour who were pioneers in blues and jazz - and sexuality, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Gladys Bentley.

One of the most interesting, and awful, takeaways from this talk was the brief discussion about how there is some difference in the historical record as to the sexuality women presented, and that this is due to McCarthyism which basically forced at least Gladys Bentley to present herself as no longer a lesbian. It made me so cross to think of a person as comfortable in their sexuality as Bentley having to forcibly change themselves because of the massive risks that being out and proud served in the backwards looking 1950s America.

Reiley spoke about a quack physician called Charles Hamilton (misgendered practically everywhere on the internet), and the importance of checking multiple sources and subjecting them to due scrutiny.

If anyone enjoyed this panel is interested in other hidden heroes from sources that aim at diversity in who and what they talk about (and use content notices), I highly recommend @missedinhistory, Sawbones, and @rejectedprincesses.

The Future of Nine Worlds

It's time for a chat about Nine Worlds and where it's going. If you have strong thoughts about what you'd like to see the event become, and would like to get involved in making things happen, this is your in-person opportunity to talk about the options and understand how we got where we are.

Went to this, and I honestly don’t have a lot to say about it - not a lot a could say about it because I’m very much not the right person to speak about what happened in the majority of the session.

I will say that the announcement that Nine Worlds was re-constituting after this year’s con felt like a blow to the gut.

(This was an incredibly powerful moment, and to know that even though the current director is stepping back a future nineworlds is possible meant so very much.)

(Main point by what may turn out to be the future team was that Nine Worlds is too precious to lose)

CN for discussion of police at con, and a failure act appropriately to the stated concerns of a con-goer (and more concerned people who did not speak about it at the Future of Nine Worlds panel). When this section is over there will be a delightful gif of Wonder Woman deflecting bullets so scroll below her if you will find this section challenging.

What happened next is best summed up by Alecto101 in this post which I urge you all to read (also please read this followup thread by the same person). Her recollection of what happened at that panel is extremely accurate. I was there, and that is what happened. It was not dealt with adequately by anyone there in an official capacity. Most people who wanted to say something in follow up raised the fact that Alecto101 had not had her question and concerns adequately addressed, and when the people on the stage did so, it was in an inappropriate way that put the emotional and intellectual workload back on the person who had rightly raised legitimate concerns.

I have absolutely no patience with the people who immediately strawmanned (Oh, you don’t want police there at all - you can’t exclude attendees based on job) - I was there and at no point did Alecto101 suggest that.

What I’m trying to say is something EK said much more eloquently: “Concerns about how police participate in 9W and the separation of their jobs and their everyday lives as fans are ABSOLUTELY valid and not the same as “ban cops”.“

The developments since have been a little more positive, and I’m hoping that the reconstitution can be used as a way to build in representation of PoC from the beginning rather than trying to add on later. The way 9W works for members of the LGBTQ or disabled communities needs to be the way it works for the BaME community too, or it is not diverse (I’ve paraphrased here. I’m pretty sure I’ve just mangled the original quote. I can’t remember who said it but it wasn’t originally me).

For followup, I recommend reading Avery Delany’s thread here and this thread on the official Nine Worlds twitter account. This web page from Nine Worlds is also very important reading. If you have the physical, emotional, and mental spoons to do so, please consider signing up to be part of the future.

Finally, if you’re thinking about writing to Alecto, please first consider this tweet from the official Nine Worlds Team: “We do not want people to interact with the blogger on our behalf. We do not need defending. We do not want them pursued again for conversations they don’t want to continue. Their opinions are valid and we are glad to have heard them. “ and just DON’T.

After that I had more con crash, and tried to manage it myself in the quiet room, before worrying that my nose blowing was going to upset those who had sensory overload and needed genuine quiet, and ran away to my room where E wrapped me in a blanket and fed me biscuits until I was human again. She is awesome and I’m totally in her debt. (Thread here of what I struggled with wrt the quiet room - I am not saying it should go away BTW - I don’t know what the right answer is, just that I found it challenging for my own particular issues)

The end of the con was then barrelling towards me at a terrifying speed. I went off site for food with some friends, and then we all formed half of a team for the unofficial “The Not The End of the Con Quiz” as team Last Best Hope for Victory, and we only went and bloody won! Massive props to @knittedace and @laalratty who basically carried our team through two rounds pretty much on their own (even though one of our team who shall remain nameless nearly submitted “Aragorn” as the name of the giant spider in Harry Potter, which was caught before we submitted for marking, but they shall not live it down... for a while anyway :))

(Team Last Best Hope for Victory. Actual quiz victors!)

Went to bed at midnight after several rounds of Slash, which was really the perfect end to a great con (even if I did keep crashing).

(Me on my way home. I look pretty knackered there, but it doesn’t even touch how completely mentally (and to some extent physically) exhausted I was, and still am. Completely worth it though.)

I may have listened to this on the journey home and sobbed. Like I said on my Friday post, it’s somehow become the song of the con for me.

#my stuff #babylon 5 #brain slug collective #brain slugs #nine worlds #nineworlds #Future of Nine Worlds #representation #diversity

[scribbleheaded]

So we've been thinking about gender a lot and heres the general consensus:

We overall identify as genderfluid when we are acting as a collective. This fits the shifts that come with switches and allows for all the range of gender expressions and attitudes from within the system. It's kinda like how we collectively identify as bisexual even though individual parts may identify as lesbian, gay, or ace. Bisexual just sums up our general behavior the best and until more recently it also summed up our primary hosts sexuality. But I'll get into that conflict later. None of us really like generalizing our sexuality or gender but we've found it to be the best solution for talking about these things without disclosing the DID. People close to us can know about it but the average peer or acquaintance needs a summary that excludes the DID details.

I individually identify as bigender. It's a label that has stuck out to me and it fits better than anything else. I'm a man and a woman at once. And everything in between and every combo of the two. And I'm something else entirely. But im definitely definitively both, so I like the label bigender. Plus then I'm bi²

On a similar note, I really want to use neopronouns but I dont really have accepting people in my life to try them with right now. But if anyone on here wants to send me asks or help me try out pronouns I'm really wanting to see how xe/xem and hy/hym and ve/vem feel. I also have been going by Dylan irl instead of Delaney but Dylan is also a name of a part which complicates things. I'd like a name that's just mine, but until I find one, I identify most strongly with our names Dylan and Delaney. I also like to be referred to as Syd when Syd and I are piloting together.

Syds gender hasn't really changed as they are still solidly agender. But they've been really enjoying our collective shift to exploring more masc presentation. And I feel like thought their feelings or presentation havent changed, directly labeling themselves as agender has been a positive shift forward with regards to accepting ourselves. I sense a lot of joy in exploring gender from the tweens and teens, and that has made the hard work of accepting this part of ourselves a lot more rewarding.

And then there's Dylan. Shes an interesting part. She is very connected with womanhood but only as it applies to loving women. Shes butch and shes a prince but as a woman. Her gender is complicated but very close to Dyke in nature. Dyke, it goes without saying, defines her gender as Dyke. Dylan and Dyke have been stepping up a lot in the hole Molly left last fall in maintaining our external real world life. They're a great help to me honestly but it's a shift in how we live our life which has created problems. I know Molly and Rachel don't like the idea of taking the risk of being super out and proud of being genderweird and into women, but I dont think hiding our identity really saved us any pain in the past. There is definitely conflict there though. So many conversations about sexuality and gender and safety. And monogamy. I'm so tired of the arguments about monogamy. Its exhausting to listen to.

It's hard to balence all of our wants sometimes. Sometimes I feel like I hear tumblr discourse just repeated in my brain. Someone is angry because they feel Dylan and Dyke leaning into their attraction to women and rejecting other parts attraction to men is perpetuating our collective internalized biphobia. This part argues that Dylan and Dyke are a reaction of our continued feeling from our highschool gsa that we weren't valid for loving women if we were still attracted to men, this is our internalized biphobia no doubt. From the opposite end though, I hear Dylan argue that their acceptance of their lesbianism is an expression of our system working through our trauma and internalized homophobia. It's an expression of love for our love of women despite our mothers abuse and despite all those who made us feel wrong, dirty, predatory or a freak for being attracted to women. I think they're both right. I know parts of us feel like we aren't valid in our attraction to women unless we reject our attraction to men, but I also know that Dyke and Dylan being proud lesbians really has helped us in our healing process from the bullying and abuse we endured over our attraction to women. I'm not sure what the answer is, but I hope we can hit a point when our attraction to people doesn't make us feel ashamed and like we have to choose one part of ourself over another.

That of course gets into the monogamy discourse inside but I think we need to sort through it more before sharing. In any case it was enlightening to write all of this down. And this isnt even going into the trans masculine parts feelings on gender or sexuality which is a whole can of worms that the more conventional ANPs (apparently normal parts) are still processing. Many of us dont feel like we can publically claim those parts of our identity because we are so often perceived as a woman and since so many of us are connected with womanhood. But we have strong connections with manhood too and sometimes I wish I could express pride or even just less shame around those parts and feelings. I've seen other bigender people speak on being both mlm and wlw and that's been enlightening to see and hits very close to our expirences. I'm hoping more exposure to more queer communities will help us feel more comfortable with this. Something to work on. I'm excited to explore my gender presentation and actually tell people to use they/them and Mx. this upcoming semester though. I'm excited to publically claim the more masculine parts of myself and actually lean into being genderweird.

Anyway thanks for reading this far and like if you read it all if you want. Also plz dont add to our internal discourse. The arguments inside are more than enough lol

#dont reblog #personal #actuallydid #gender and sexuality #dylan has been reading butler lately #got a lot of folks talking inside if you cant tell