seeing through a mirror dimly

The absolutely pervasive mentality that unwanted criticism or critique shouldn't be given and should be ignored is why fans of color don't stay in fan spaces.

And I am not going to mince words here:

A lot of you are racist. A lot of your fan works are racist.

That might have been difficult to hear. And if it was, you should probably reflect on why that was.

"Fandom etiquette" has created a space where fans of color either bite our tongues and eventually leave or say something, get dogged on, and then eventually leave.

If I say "I am uncomfortable with fandom's tendency to write trans men as feminine and submissive" I do not mean "I think every person who writes feminine submissive trans men should be chased with pitchforks". I don't even mean "any cis-person who writes feminine or submissive trans men should be chased with pitchforks". I mean "I would like writers to seriously think about why this is so common, why they write that, and if it fairly and genuinely engages with what it means to be a trans man, or if they just think it's hot when submissive people have vaginas and didn't want to write omegaverse of m/f".

Similarly, when people say "fandom is systemically less interested in black characters, less willing to give flat black characters rich fanon than flat white characters, and less interested in black characters in ships", the response is not to explain why you, personally, just happen to like popular white guy in that fanon. Your job is to look at yourself and ask if you tend to "just happen to be more interested" in the popular white guy across fandoms, be honest, and start unpacking that. Sometimes it's easier to love the flat character who's already getting 10,000 fics with headcanons and art and meta.

If somebody says "I wish there were more gluten free options at the potluck. I hate always showing up and not finding anything I can eat*", they are not asking you to throw your cake in the trash and weep. They do not want to hear your long speech about how actually this is your grandmother's recipe, and you've tried it with rice flour actually, but it just didn't work. You think about what you can do, and you listen to how they feel.

Hi! For so many years I've followed RobStar week as a spectator. Now I'm actually participating! I won't be able to do all the prompts but I figure this will be a fun writing exercise to pump out as many as I can (if I have ideas for them). Happy Robin/Starfire week! @robxstar

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"You're benching her?" Beast Boy repeated. "Seriously?"

Robin didn't even look at him.

"Stay out of this, Beast Boy."

"Dude, you can't do that!" Beast Boy said, stepping beside Starfire. "This was just our first major job together as a team! And she saved all of those people!"

"She directly disobeyed orders."

"So what?!"

Robin whipped around, staring down the changeling.

"It's insubordination," he challenged.

Beast Boy took a step forward, squaring up to the team leader. "Man, what's your problem?! Everybody was saved!"

"No," Robin snapped. "Everybody survived because we got lucky."

Starfire folded her arms despite the dried blood smeared across her clothes.

"I do not believe saving innocent lives should be considered luck. You have tasked me with protecting innocent lives, and that is what I did."

Robin rounded on her. "You were given direct orders. It wasn't your decision to make."

Starfire faced Robin directly, drawing herself up to challenge him.

"It became my decision when I was the only one there capable of rescuing them."

"The mission was coordinated for a reason, Starfire."

"Yes, and the situation changed."

"It always changes! That's why we have a plan!"

Beast Boy scoffed. "Yeah, if your plan was to let all those people die."

Robin glowered at him. "The plan was to have everyone covering each other."

"The team wasn't there!" Beast Boy said, his voice raised in exasperation.

"Because she broke formation!"

"Oh, come on!"

Cyborg finally stepped in, holding his palms out between the two.

"Alright, everybody needs to chill out."

"No, Cyborg."

Everyone turned to Starfire, her eyes beginning to glow in frustration.

"I did nothing wrong. I do not deserve this treatment."

"You got hurt, Starfire!" Robin bellowed back.

"I am a warrior! This is not the first time I have been injured, and it will certainly not be my last."

"It could've been!"

Silence.

The words escaped Robin's mouth before he could stop them. He stood still, his face just as shocked as the others.

"And there it is," Raven broke the silence.

Robin shot her a look. "What?"

"That's the real problem here," Raven said.

Robin frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," Raven said flatly, "you've spent the last ten minutes pretending that this is all about following orders."

Cyborg immediately began nodding, crossing his arms.

"Glad someone finally said it," he said dryly.

Raven ignored him.

"Your problem isn't that she disobeyed you."

Robin stood firm.

"It is."

"No, it's not."

Beast Boy leaned into Cyborg, whispering, "I think she's winning."

Cyborg nodded. "Man, I know she's winning."

Robin sighed. "Star, you disobeyed a direct order. That's my problem."

Starfire bristled. "I could not -"

"You thought she was dead," Raven interjected.

The room became very still.

Robin stared at her in shock. "...How do you -"

"Empath," Raven said simply.

"Oh."

"I felt you panic from the other side of the city."

Robin had the decency to look at least slightly embarrassed.

"I wasn't panicking," he mumbled, mostly to himself.

Raven raised an eyebrow.

Starfire's gaze softened as she stepped toward the ebony-haired hero.

"You believed I had perished?"

Robin couldn't seem to face her.

"When the building came down…" he said quietly, "your communicator cut out."

He swallowed.

"I couldn't see you. I thought…"

Starfire watched him carefully.

"I thought I had sent you to your death."

The room stilled.

"I did not know that you believed this."

Robin finally found it in him to look at her. His eyes met hers, and he allowed himself to truly face her injured form for the first time that night.

"To be fair, Star…" Cyborg interrupted, scratching the back of his head. "Watching you catch half an apartment building wasn't exactly relaxing. It's not like any of us knew that you could do that."

Starfire tilted her head at him. "I was aware of what I could handle."

"You were literally screaming," Cyborg shot back.

"I was exerting myself."

"You were screaming, 'IT IS VERY HEAVY!'"

"It was very heavy."

He couldn't help it. Robin chuckled.

"I do not understand why this is humorous." Starfire looked genuinely confused.

Robin ran a hand through his soot-covered hair, settling into a more relaxed stance.

"You seriously announced that the building was heavy?"

"I believed the information might be useful."

Beast Boy finally cracked, laughing at the situation unfolding. Cyborg and Raven joined in with their own smiles.

Robin shook his head, trying very hard not to laugh.

"You are unbelievable."

"I have been informed this is one of my more admirable qualities."

For the first time since returning to the Tower, the tension eased.

Robin sighed. "I'm still mad."

Starfire nodded.

"But not because you saved those people."

Starfire waited.

"I'm mad because…" he admitted, "…this was our first real mission together." He gestured toward the city outside. "An entire neighborhood was falling apart."

His voice became quieter.

"I've spent years training to keep control when everything goes wrong." He looked at Starfire. "Then you ignored the plan."

"Because innocent people would have perished."

"I know."

Starfire looked out the window before returning her gaze to Robin.

"I would make the same choice again."

Robin closed his eyes.

"…I know."

That somehow made it worse.

Raven looked between the two teenagers.

"We've known each other for…" She glanced at Beast Boy.

"Like… three weeks?" Beast Boy offered.

"Thirty-two days," Cyborg corrected.

"You counted?" Beast Boy asked.

"I keep records."

"Nerd."

Raven continued, looking between Robin and Starfire.

"You've known each other for thirty-two days."

She folded her arms.

"Trust doesn't appear overnight."

Starfire looked at Robin.

"I am sorry."

Robin looked back.

"I shouldn't have yelled."

"You yelled quite loudly when I had caught the building."

"…Yeah."

"I could hear you over the emergency vehicles."

"…Yeah."

"I was approximately two blocks away."

"…Okay, I get it."

Beast Boy snorted.

Cyborg laughed outright.

Even Robin groaned.

"Can everyone stop piling on?"

"No," Raven said.

Starfire stepped closer, her voice soft.

"I do not regret saving those civilians."

Robin nodded.

"But…" She hesitated. "…I regret making you believe I had died."

Robin met her eyes.

"And next time…" He held out his hand. "…next time we figure it out together."

Starfire smiled - a small, genuine smile that reached her eyes.

"I would like that."

She clasped his forearm.

Beast Boy immediately wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

"Aww…they're bonding"

Robin didn't even look at him.

"We're resolving a tactical disagreement."

"Give it a few months. They'll be finishing each other's battle plans," Cyborg joked.

Starfire tilted her head. "I do enjoy planning."

Robin opened his mouth.

Stopped.

"…That could actually work."

Beast Boy threw his hands into the air. "Oh, great. We created two Robins."

Raven sighed. "They're going to be impossible."

Cyborg chuckled. "They're gonna be a good team."

Robin looked at Starfire. For the first time since the mission, he wasn't seeing the reckless alien who had ignored his orders. He was seeing someone who would throw herself into impossible danger without hesitation if it meant saving lives.

Starfire, meanwhile, wasn't seeing an overbearing commander. She was seeing someone who had been terrified of losing her.

Neither of them said it.

Not yet.

Tulip Table Lamp (circa 1900–1906) by Tiffany Studios (America, New York, 1902–1932).

Leaded glass, blown glass, bronze.

The Cleveland Museum of Art.

very limited experience,

very limited access to resources

and the unique legal and social positions that is found in childhood

You should be able to read children's books and recognise that they are not for you. they are answering questions that you should know the answers to. They are describing social and political situations that children are new to and have little to no social responsibility to react to

You an adult, when you engage in adult literature should already know and be able to process social nuances developed with age you also have a different social responsibility when you engage with this type of literature, you have a different political and legal framework to engage with this literature.

Under the clear blue summer sky ☀️,

in a vast sunflower field overlooking the royal palace in the distance 🌻,

Blaize was enjoying some solitude, undisturbed by anyone 🐈.

The large shadows cast by the sunflowers and the gentle south breeze blowing from the sea to the hills 🍃

transformed the summer heat and memories of the daily hustle and bustle into a moment of quiet respite 😌