i haven’t written much this week, winter blues are coming on strong and i feel a hiatus in my midst with changing life circumstances but here we go. thanks for the tag @gretagerwigsmuse @jupitercomet @bobfloydsbabe @joaquinwhorres
RULES: Share the last line you wrote for your WIP and tag as many people as there are words.
CASS IM SO HERE FOR THIS????? Also thank you for tagging me🥰🥰
I’ve hardly gotten to write at all but this is what I gots:
You stand up, matching the intensity of his gaze, and whisper, “Try me.”
WHEW HOT DAMN I FORGOT ABOUT THAT
Tagging: @bluebellhairpin @starstruckkittensweets @anlian-aishang @ackermans-freedom-inc @cower-before-power @vs-redemption @thecowboykatsuki-anon @therealvalkyrie @vampyrsm @xxdragonwriterxx + anyone else who may want to give it a shot :)
Thank you for the tag Cindy! ^^ This is from the first chapter of “The vows we made”, which I might still edit before I actually post it
“I have to believe in it, that I can see them. I have to. Otherwise I can’t. “
Tagging: @lyranova @loosesodamarble @koneko-pi @bowandcurtsey @wildflowerwoodsworld @firefutte @marune2 That’s not 16, but that’s all who write and come to mind atm ^^’ Feel free to join even if you’re not tagged ^^
I truly don't have any words about what's happening in Ohio right now. I want to post something like I usually do. Give vocabulary, etc, whatnot. It's important, it's so important. But I don't have words. What could I possibly say about the level of devastation that has happened, is happening, will happen in the future? This is worse than the BP spill. And I don't know how to respond to that with anything other than a shocked numbness.
There has been a complete media black out regarding the catastrophic and deadly environmental disaster currently happening in Ohio right now, which began a full week ago at time of writing.
A train filled with extremely toxic and reactive chemicals, specifically vinyl chloride, was derailed. A cloud of poisonous chemicals has sprouted and since the cloud is heavier-than-air, it will persist to continue to travel downwind, polluting the atmosphere and environment of everything it touches. All pets will die. Reaching the Mississippi will completely eradicate the safety of all its waters from that point and everywhere downstream. Creeks are already filled with dead fish which the Ohio government claims is not to be worried about. The entire state's soils and ecosystems will be contaminated to deadly carcinogenic levels for the rest of all our lives and far beyond it. If and when it reaches the Gulf of Mexico the currents will carry its poisons globally.
I wish I could say anything of hope right now. I wish I could even say I'm angry. But I'm not right now. I just feel numb. The scale of this is just so beyond anything I can comprehend and there's an explicit and purposeful refusal to report on this.
While vinyl chloride itself is a carcinogen, the burning of the chemical, which releases hydrogen chloride and phosgene, can be immediately lethal. Phosgene, a highly toxic, colorless gas with a strong odor, was notoriously used as a weapon during World War I.
Meanwhile, the crash site was leaching other hazardous materials besides vinyl chloride. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says they seeped into surrounding waterways, and “were immediately toxic to fish”—though it added that “actions were taken to minimize that.” The agency has assured the public that, the poor aquatic life’s fate notwithstanding, everybody’s drinking water was “protected.”
Yesterday [Feb 9 2023], the agency announced that the air in East Palestine was finally deemed safe enough for residents to return.
The oldest source I can find discussing this is from Feb 8.
WHEELING — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday said Norfolk Southern’s train that derailed Friday in East Palestine, Ohio, did lead
Describe your OC or a character ask game
🎶 - How do they sound? Describe their voice
👀 - How do they look like? Give an overall description
💌 - How would they react to a love letter?
Bianca - Unless it was from someone she had an interest in, she will chuck it in the garbage. Words are just words to Bianca. She prefers being shown love through one's actions. However, if you’ve already proven yourself in her eyes, she will hold on to it. I'm sure Bianca has a drawer filled with all the cards she had gotten from Dorothy over the years. Maybe one from Kirsch because she secretly thinks of him as her best friend too.
Eirwen - This poor girl is so flustered. She's so used to Bianca getting all the admirers growing up so she's incredibly unprepared for her own. She will be flattered by the gesture even if she isn't into you. She will try to gently decline it and apologize profusely that she cannot return your feelings. If she likes you, she shyly accepts it with her face flushed all red. Then she'll hold onto it and reread it once in a while.
🎁 - Are they good at giving gifts? How about receiving them?
Bianca - Bianca isn't the best at personalized gifts. She is very practical in her gift-giving. For example, she knows Eirwen always wants fabric and thread for sewing. So she usually gifts Eirwen money instead of picking out fabric she thinks her sister would like. Bianca is usually uncomfortable receiving gifts. Unless it's something she needs, she prefers having someone perform acts of service instead.
Eirwen - Eirwen specializes in making clothes. She makes it a habit of writing notes on everyone's style and clothing preferences. So if she makes you clothes, it's personalized just for you. If you don't want clothes, she'll gift you your favorite kinds of food. Eirwen is very touched when receiving an unexpected gift, even more so when it is a personalized gift.
People are scornful when a guy appears to not realize Women Are People until he gets married or has a daughter, but I think this is worth examining a little more closely.
when I read A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis, I was really struck by his observations about gender. i wish I could remember the quote but he says something like, "do you really have a good relationship with your wife if you aren't almost inclined to call her Brother?" a lot of the things he said seemed like a contrast with the more "gender essentialist" ideas he espouses in for example Mere Christianity
And that's the thing, Mere Christianity and most of his well known fictional works were written before he was married, and the thing about a lot of writers we view today as sexist is that they hardly ever interacted with women as peers.
and like, of course someone would have these ideas about the Nature of Women in contrast to men when in their experience, women inhabit different and in many ways mutually unintelligible social worlds than men.
and of course even today many people make friends and acquaintances primarily among their own gender, and are in environments dominated by one gender or the other, and people insist that this is natural or better or more proper, and this allows people to make observations about the "opposite" gender as an outsider that hasn't had many equal-standing "peer" interactions with that gender
It's really hard to notice when this is happening. Like you're seldom ever in an environment where the "opposite" gender is literally not present, and you can think to yourself "yes I interact with women every day, I see women all the time, I am friends with women the normal amount" but still not have a trusting and intimate relationship with a woman where she's willing to disclose stuff to you, experiences with genuinely free, unstructured socializing with women, or experiences in an environment that is female-dominated or where the culture and behavior norms are influenced more strongly by women.
I've just been thinking about how some of the most disgustingly sexist guys I knew in high school did not have the opportunity to socialize normally with girls because of their strict background
I knew a guy that had been taught it was inappropriate for him just to be alone in a room with a girl, ever.
This was a very conservative Evangelical homeschool group. Almost all the kids weren't allowed to date until they were legal adults, and interactions with the "opposite" sex were often assumed to have sexual or romantic interest involved.
I mean, hell, a ton of people with "conservative" backgrounds were taught that there were "male" and "female" interests and activities, and that boys were supposed to like [X] whereas girls couldn't participate, so boys and girls were seldom in the same place doing the same things. I remember my best friend talking about how her dad exclusively took her brothers out to do (traditionally 'masculine') activities and basically ignored his daughters.
I've never quite thought before about how that might feed into sexist ideas by eliminating people's opportunities to neutrally spend time with the "opposite" gender.
the version of this post without the additions is circulating now, grumble complain etc, so i'm getting some responses like this one
*sigh*
An explanation isn't an excuse? The guy I mentioned in the replies that were cut off, who wasn't allowed to be alone in a room with a girl as a teenager? He was a sexist asshole who assaulted one of my best friends, and yes he was responsible for his actions, but it would be foolish to dismiss the idea that his upbringing had no impact on him as a person.
And something that is true of times past and true in conservative communities even today (as I said, also in the replies not seen by this replier) was that no actually having female family members growing up doesn't mean you spend a lot of your day-to-day with women. In these types of social structures, girls are expected to spend time with their mothers and boys with their fathers, because there are few activities, work and leisure alike, that are acceptable for both genders.
There is also the fact that we actively gender young children nowadays in a way that was once not as prevalent—even if brothers and sisters played together as small children, that doesn't necessarily indicate "experience with the opposite gender as peers" because this was before they really "became" Girls and Boys and the Innate Differences "really" were assumed to be present.
I'm not saying that it was acceptable or good that C.S. Lewis or anyone struggled with "Women are Just People," I'm saying that there were sprawling, enormous structural barriers in the way of rejecting mainstream opinion about gender.
Today, I can go to an academic library and look at a biology journal and seeing a woman's name listed as the author is no more remarkable than seeing a man's. I can attend a gardening club and be surrounded by men and women. I can take a martial arts class with both men and women learning and instructing alike. I can take classes taught by a mixture of men and women, at a co-ed school, learning from textbooks written by a mixture of men and women, with both men and women in their illustrations and examples.
And people—feminists—fought hard for every last one of those things to be commonplace. Older books will use the pronoun "he" to refer to a hypothetical person; we don't do that anymore. There was, and is, a very purposeful effort to build a world where women aren't a special subtype of human that can usually go safely unacknowledged.
And yes, I would explore racism through the same lens, because WOW, even the most progressive abolitionists of early modern times had at least a few ideas about race that seem bizarre to us nowadays, especially regarding supposed "differences" between races, and segregation and "separateness" were even more explicitly enforced! I think it would be pretty damn worthwhile to take a look at how racial segregation correlates with social attitudes, and what impact the level of racial diversity in their community has on the ideas of people with otherwise similar beliefs.
rarepair fluff for new years. happy 2023 everyone 💕 [crossposted to ao3]
- genre: fluff
- info: yuno x liebe
- warnings: mentions of death
- summary: Liebe planned to spend the annual Black Bull & Golden Dawn New Year's party alone in a corner with his hands over his ears. Fate has other plans for him.
- wordcount: 1.3k
New Year's with the Magic Knights came with a big party. A big, loud party, hosted by the Golden Dawn in some random ballroom in some random fancy building. About half the Black Bulls and Golden Dawn were attending, and the others were back at their base, with family, or occupied with missions.
Liebe hung out in a corner, away from all the bright lights, loud music, and crowd of people. He watched Vanessa get drunk faster than anyone else and proceed to get Finral, Gauche, and Klaus drunk, too. His brother Asta was yelling at Yuno and Mimosa about something or other on the other side of the room, but for once his voice was drowned out by the rest of the party. Liebe almost missed it. He preferred being shouted at by one person to being surrounded by suffocating noise.
He couldn’t exactly leave. Most of the doors were blocked off by drunk Magic Knights, or worse, sober ones. And he doubted he’d get much peace anywhere else. It would be surprising if people in the furthest corner of the Forsaken Realm couldn't hear this racket. He was just stuck.
He had long ago discarded his squad robe, leaving it next to him in a heap of black fabric. He had always despised it, mostly because it felt like sandpaper. Metaphorically, at least. The fabric was actually quite soft, but the texture was god awful and felt like his hand was being stabbed a hundred times every time he touched it… and this was the revised version Vanessa had given him. The original had been even worse. (There was a reason he avoided hugging Asta like the plague. That boy never took his goddamn robe off.)
All in all, this whole party was insanely unpleasant, and Liebe found himself watching the huge clock on the wall anxiously, waiting for midnight to strike so he could go home with his knees tucked up beneath his chin and his arms wrapped around himself in a makeshift hug, trying to tune out the sounds of the party.
“Are you alright?” a low voice asked, momentarily breaking through his auditory block.
Liebe looked up to meet Yuno’s golden eyes. His heart leapt into his throat. His mouth was inexplicably dry all of a sudden, so his only response came in the form of a shrug.
“It’s pretty loud in here,” Yuno said. “You want to go outside?”
Liebe hesitated for a split second before remembering how awful his current environment was and nodding. Yuno silently offered his hand, helped Liebe up, and then led him out of one of the ballroom’s French windows onto a large balcony.
It was surprisingly empty. Although, it was also significantly colder out here than inside, which Liebe noticed the moment a cool breeze swept over them.
“Cold?” Yuno asked.
Liebe shrugged. “Sorta.”
Yuno took off his robe and held it out for Liebe to take. He went to do so but recoiled the minute his hand touched the fabric. Why did humans insist on wearing such awful textures?
“It has a different fabric as a lining,” Yuno said. “Might be a better texture.”
Liebe frowned, not entirely buying it, but still felt the inside of the robe. Surprisingly, the texture was better inside, so he hesitantly accepted the robe and slipped it on. It was really much nicer on his skin than his Black Bulls robe.
“What’s it made of?” he asked.
“Silk, I think, or maybe satin,” Yuno said. “The lining is, at least. Not sure about the outside.”
“Thanks.”
They fell into silence together, standing on the balcony and looking over the beautiful landscape.
“It’s hard to believe the year’s over already,” Yuno commented.
Liebe hummed in agreement.
"I remember, when Asta and I were kids, Father Orsi used to do fake firework shows with his magic," Yuno said softly. "It was nice.”
Liebe hummed again. It had been many years since he’d last spent New Year's Eve with someone. Since Licita's death, he'd spent so much time in the void of his grimoire that the days blurred into the nights and even if he’d wanted to he wouldn’t have known when to celebrate. Now, he was out of the grimoire again, but twelve years of nothing had left the memory hazy. And anyway, he didn’t particularly like any of the humans he had met since being allowed out.
Yuno was probably Liebe's favorite human. He was pretty, and he didn't yell constantly, and he didn't expect Liebe to pick up on a million tiny social cues or ostracize him for being a devil. Liebe liked being around Yuno - it sometimes felt like his only moment of peace. Vanessa and Finral called it love. Liebe wanted to disagree, but their idea of love did seem… accurate to his feelings.
“Asta also used to try and convince Sister Lily to marry him every year. It was like his equivalent to a New Year’s kiss.”
"I've never had a New Year's kiss before," Liebe said.
"Really?" Yuno asked. “Me neither.”
"Well, I've only had one New Year's point blank, back when I was a kid."
"Right." Yuno's voice was emotionless as usual, but Liebe could have sworn it carried an affectionate lilt. Or was he looking too far into it? Damn. Emotions were hard. “Asta mentioned that.”
“He talks about me?”
“Yes,” Yuno confirmed, and fell into silence. That was… all. Just a simple ‘yes’.
They fell back into silence. It was such a peaceful night, Liebe noted. There was no sign of the moon - Vanessa had noted it to be a new moon tonight, right in time for the new year. So many new things, all in one night.
Yuno shuffled a little closer to Liebe, their elbows almost touching, but not quite.
“I don’t understand the big thing about New Years,” Liebe confessed. “We all survived another year. Hooray. Everyone throws a big party. But why? A year isn’t that long.”
“Depends on the year,” Yuno replied. “I mean, there was a whole war against devils this year. That’s pretty impressive to have survived.”
“Hm, that’s true.”
“You do have a point, though.” Yuno said. “We don’t have wars or some kind of national crisis every year.”
“You don’t,” Liebe agreed.
“I suppose it’s just fun to shove another excuse to have a party and shoot off some fireworks into the year.” Yuno mused.
“I hate parties.”
“Too loud, right?”
“Yep.”
“I agree.”
Suddenly, a loud chorus erupted from behind them, the partygoers inside counting down from ten. Midnight was approaching.
“Liebe,” Yuno said suddenly as the count commenced.
Liebe looked back at him.
Three.
Yuno looked… nervous.
Two.
Suddenly, his hands were on Liebe’s cheeks, pulling him closer.
One.
Fireworks and cheers started exploding behind them, the new year officially started, but Liebe was preoccupied with Yuno’s lips on his.
He didn’t exactly know how to react.
It would be wrong to say he didn’t like the kiss. It was a good kiss. Not that he really had any experience, but it felt nice to kiss Yuno.
A few moments after the cheering died down, Yuno pulled away again.
“Sorry,” he said, averting his gaze. “I’ve been wanting an excuse to kiss you for a while.”
Liebe went red, his face burning. “You’ve what?”
“I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while.” Yuno repeated.
“Why?”
Yuno’s mouth tugged into a small smile. “I’m not sure,” he said. “You are strange.”
Liebe frowned. “I am.”
“Yeah,” Yuno agreed. “But.. in a good way. I like strange. I’d like to get to know your kind of strange better.”
“Isn’t that how you ask someone out on a date?” Liebe asked.
“That was my intention,” Yuno confirmed.
“Oh,” Liebe thought for a moment. He had obviously never dated anyone before, but Yuno was a pretty solid place to start. He had been subject to observing his squadmate’s relationships and, honestly, Yuno would absolutely be his first choice. “Yeah. Alright!”
“Nice,” Yuno said, smiling a little more. His smile was really pretty, Liebe noticed.
Liebe smiled back, a little awkwardly. “Should we go back inside?” he asked.
“The party won’t be over for a while yet,” Yuno said. “We can stay out here, if you want.”
“I would prefer that.” Liebe said.
“So would I.” Yuno replied, taking Liebe’s hand and intertwining their fingers.
I actually talked to an older queer guy who said he was amazed to see how many young people call themselves gay. When he hears it, he just hears a slur…but he also said he was glad that people are able to reclaim it, and he’s happy to see a generation of lgbt+ people comfortable with it.
one day some of you will actually go outside and go to pride and you’re going to meet old black queens who refers to themselves as femme, you’ll meet people from small towns who still use the word transsexual, you’ll see that your local activist organization set up a stall about your local LGBT history that includes leather bar’s history, you’ll see lesbians in groups refer to themselves as “guys” and “boys”, you’ll see someone with breasts and pasties and little else have “he / him” painted on his chest, and you’ll be so caught up with your terminally online attitude that instead of appreciating the wide diversity of people who exist in the LGBT community who are brave enough to share themselves you’ll just be formulating posts and tweets in your head for when get home about how “problematic” it all was and it’s honestly tragic
Once, back when I worked in an LGBTQIA dungeon, I encountered a significantly older person who remarked to me that they hadn’t been to “this type of place” in decades. They struck up a conversation with me and told me how amazing it was to see an openly transexual youth such as myself. I asked them about their experiences with gender and they said “oh, well, I’m a bit male and a bit female. Men’s and women’s clothes, sometimes makeup in a suit, sometime fresh faced in a dress when I’m at home. You know, bisexual” Obv this puzzled me at first until I realized this person was using bisexual in a very, very, literal and old fashioned sense, as in, dual-sexed. Non-binary.
Y’all gotta understand there are generation gaps in the language we use and you open yourself up to a LOT of very interesting stories if you stop blocking off the past.
One of the biggest problems with modern community is the idea that (white) western, post 2000s LGBT vocabulary is the only correct way to speak about sexuality and gender.
Like the freak outs under pictures of protests from the 70s-90s because signs and shirts say faggot and dyke and queer, as if these words weren’t a key part of identity and activism.
Beyond just English, I saw a couple people making fun of the term “gender x” in an anime…but why would a Japanese production adhere to English standards?
Or the way people talk about pronouns as if every language uses pronouns the same way as English.
It’s just…it indicates a mindset that these words are objective and written in stone and western youth culture is always the most correct in a way that…feels icky. Diversity in people includes diversity of language.
