Tried this once here and none of that is strictly wrong, but I just wrote a killer blurb so weâre going again.
How would you fare if you became omnipotent on your fourteenth birthday? I imagine you might be able to figure something out given some time to get a handle on your newfound powers, but Hera Elizabeth Riderâs deicidal brother accidentally transporting her out of the universe while trying to turn her into a weapon is not giving her that luxury. It takes her a deal with the devil, unwitting service to a vampire hunter, the creation of several gods, and one eccentric genius before sheâs able to do anything with her powers on purpose, and by then itâs really not clear what the right thing to do even is.
Relevant tags (searchable on my blog)
Forever project: all tag games, short stories, random thoughts, and if I ever do them character intros for this work are tagged with this tag. Itâs the one to block if you are mainly here for Twilight content.
Elise Godslayer: This is the tag for the MC, Hera Elizabeth Rider. She goes by Elise because thereâs too many Heraâs in her family (in her world Mary goes by her syncretized Greek name, and so most European historical figures that in our world are named Mary are named Hera there) and Elizabeth is too long for her tastes. The godslayer part is arguably a spoiler, but it happens in chapter three so Iâm not too worried. Elise is a fairly normal fourteen-year old, outside of her godlike powers. She likes music (she can play violin and fiddle), was just starting to figure out she might like some girls as more than friends, is wary of responsibility, and has a crushing need to be liked.
Davriel Godslayer: This is Eliseâs twin brother, though he was born human. Because he was human, he wasnât seen as a threat like Elise was, and so while his sister was sent to live among humans with her powers locked away, Davriel was raised by their godly parents and named himself David after the king when he realized he was trans. Mount Olympus is not a great place to raise a kid, and rants by his uncle Ares left him with a certainty that he could do better. Hence his plans to kill all of the gods and become ruler. This is not to say that he wouldnât make a terrifyingly competent and entirely benevolent god-king, it is simply that his understanding of what heâs working with (the world) is a scoche incomplete. As for why I and his tag call him Davriel and not David, well that is a smidge more of a spoiler, though Iâm sure itâs decipherable from my writings in his tag.
Eric Melior: This is the blurbâs vampire hunter! What the blurb does not mention is that he is also a vampire (and a wraith) and was born in 1892. Since making the tag Iâve Polanized his name to Eryk, though future me and his pro-Tzarist parents might have something to say about that. He is a very dutiful son, which means odd things for a Nihil whose mother has been drawn into a cult promising protection from (read extinction of) the vampires that are beginning to spread through the Russian Empire.
Sorceress: Here we have our eccentric genius. The only person (selkie, dragon, centaur or siren) to discover how to use magic on a sentient creature! She used this power to give herself a pair of legs and a sealskin, having been born a siren but being too curious about the world to confine herself to the water. Even though Elise created her world, Sorceress is likely its most consequential figure.
Mlle Nefara: The most recent character to get a tag, Mlle Nefara is just trying to get rich. Unfortunately, honest means are not particularly available to her as a black woman in 1890s Europe, and so she has chosen the slightly easier route of lying to a bunch of rich people, telling them all about the supernatural threats only she can teach them how to defend themselves against. Her charisma and talent are serving her well in this endeavor until 1897, when a plague of monsters begins to creep through the land. Theyâre similar enough to the ones sheâd made up for her sect to become increasingly popular, but she canât be so lucky that the techniques she made up would actually defeat them.
Sirenâs meet nada: Nada is the word for city among the most magically reckless group of humans on Globe, Sorceressâs world. They call the city that has built up around Sorceressâs first home on land Sirenâs Meet, not because they really ever meet Sorceress (and very few know she was ever a siren regardless), but because the estuary has collected extremists and eccentrics from human and siren communities. While it was Sorceressâs presence (and her geologic engineering) that drew the first few citizens to the place, it continued to thrive long after she went to Nadalitas. I use this tag mainly for short stories and worldbuilding facts that take place in the city.
Nihil hunters: A nihil is the most dangerous of the monsters that have begun to infect Eryk and Mlle Nefaraâs world. They are at once vampire and wraith, and so lose many of the vulnerabilities of both. The tag is nihil hunters for their whole world, because vampire hunters, what they call themselves, is simply too generic.
Southern dragons: These are mostly a world building project, as their interaction with the magic system and spatial/temporal laws Iâve built for this project is generally quite illustrative. While they originated in the southern continent of Sorceressâs world, hence their name, they have since spread to other worlds, moving through space and reality with a degree of mysterious ease I think is suitable for dragons.
Spacewhaling: It may not be correct to include this tag with this project; in fact, it started as an independent concept. If it does intersect with Eliseâs story, it would only be in the third or maybe even fourth book.
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explain your gender in 10 words or less without using boring words like âmaleâ, âfemaleâ, ânonbinaryâ, âmasculineâ, âfeminineâ or âandrogynousâ.
I forgot to clarify that this excludes deanaming you if you've changed your name. I specifically meant the "brain offers the wrong word" kind of accidental name mix-up.
This was prompted by me and my boyfriend discussing handedness and being able to tell apart left and right. And me, being ambidextrous, was baffled by how do people with an obligate dominant hand mix up which side is the one with their Writing Hand and which one isn't?? And my boyfriend pointed out that I go "turn left - no I mean right" so much when giving directions that I have lost my navigator privileges.
I argued that mixing up the words isn't the same thing as mixing up the directions. Like if your mom accidentally called you the dog's name doesn't mean that she literally can't tell you apart from the dog. And he looked at me like this
Because evidently not only has this never happened to him, he has never heard of this being a thing. And he was so confident in this that I had to double-check that I'm not the only person this has ever happened to.
My grandmother had four boys, and of course they all had friends, so her house was always full of small boys. So she took to calling them all Sam, because none of them were named Sam, and otherwise it would absolutely be the "JohnâDaveâMarkâ" running down the list problem.
Ok, so. The fundamental issue with an age gap relationship is power imbalance. Itâs the same problem as dating your boss or someone with significantly more financial or social wealth. You are at risk of being pushed by someone with enough leverage you canât readily push back.
I want to talk about what about your age gives you that power. Among adults, in large part itâs experience. A 50 year old is likely to know more about people and how they react to things than a 25 year old, because theyâve had twice as much time looking at people to learn it. There are exceptions to this: a sheltered 50 year old who cares more about her personal projects than paying attention to others might know less than a 25 year old aspiring actor who has being deliberately and meticulously observing everyone they encounter to discern their motivations. But age works well as a general measure before youâve come to know a person.
But thatâs not all. Especially among teenagers and young adults, being young changes how you are treated, and importantly, the extent to which you are believed, by strangers. In general, people are more willing to take the word of an adult over the word of a teen if they disagree. A person perceived to be young is less likely to have access to other sorts of power too: financial freedom, freedom of movement, these things are easier to access when youâre older.
Now: the part I care about. We have a vampire that looks 20 but is 90. He wants to date a middle aged woman (letâs make her 45). Ignoring any other abilities his vampirism gives him: who has more power from their *age*.
Traditionally, we would say him. He has all the experience of a 90 year old without the physical frailty. But does he? A 20 year old is not going to be able to interact with adult society that much. Even if he can call it baby face and join the workforce, are you really telling your baby faced 25 year old colleague the same things you are the guy about to retire? Are you inviting him to the same events as the coworker celebrating her 15 year tenure at the company? Our vampire can look, but he canât experience the life of someone older. The best he has is secondhand research, the kind you can get by talking to neighbours and family friends (though that route would have dried up early for him).
Our middle-aged human also has access to much more secondary sources of power. While less guaranteed than I would like, she is more likely than her vamp boyfriend to have access to family support, lifelong friends, a stable salaried job, and a home in her own name. We might call some of these benefits of age, but theyâre really benefits of a continuous life. Even humans can lose those to being cut off/disowned, moving long distances, having a disabilityâŚ
Which of the two of them can ask for help? She certainly has more personal resources, while he is relying on formalized help. We have gotten better at believing younger men who say they are being abused by older women (though again, not so much as I would like) but many formal supports are gonna fall through when he doesnât have an ID that matches his age.
Now that this has fully become a metaphor for the various things that can give you the resources of someone much younger than you without the societal supports of someone of that chronological age, we see that the vampire is at a disadvantage, unless he has Vampire Specific Support. Usually this is Magic Powers, which tend to be pretty effective. A Vampire Peer Group can be pretty helpful at subbing in for some of the social supports you lost with your unusual life path. Ideally, social programs would also recognize that age does not give everyone power equally, and leave options open for vampires so they can ask for help, even from people their age or younger.
Sorry, my what? My pronouns? Oh, yeah I'm between genders at the moment. No, it's cool, I quit my last gender a little while ago because it really wasn't working out. I don't know if I even have a dream gender anymore.
Oh yeah, it did come with benefits, but they weren't really worth it. The culture was really toxic. To be honest I think I'd prefer a part-time gender so I can just be self-described in my spare time.
I mean, in a perfect world we wouldn't need gender, you know? We could just voluntarily be perceived as much as we're able, as much as makes us feel fulfilled. Having a full-time gender shouldn't be a prerequisite for food, shelter, and healthcare.
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These character designs??? Are awesome???? All of them are unique despite being recognizable and simple. It is very easy to imagine them as full characters in a who framed roger rabbit style live action/cartoon mix.
The show would be pretty simple, probably aimed at children but in the way that takes them seriously and thus can be appreciated by adults. The protagonist loses one or more of them (physically) each episode. Sometimes they try to chase after their lost creature, which never works. Sometimes they try to work on their art without all three, which usually chases off a second one. Both options are always pursued reasonably: the protagonist thinks they might work this time because of some differentiating factor: the project is small, time is just right there I can probably catch him. The resolution is always a legit skill to bait the missing creature(s) back. Meditation, planning, a good nap, whatever. Children are encouraged to submit their own art to be featured as the final product that gets produced each episode after the coping skill is used.
While I 100% agree that there are a lot of rappers who have misogynistic lyrics, it always feels deeply disingenuous when white/nonblack people call it out as a means of defense for talking shit about it as a genre while still slutshaming female rappers for rapping about sex. On top of that, they'll say stuff like "oh yeah I prefer rock/pop punk/heavy metal" as though rock musicians and their fans have historically been accepting of women in the scene, and have always made it a safe space for women *looks at Tina Bell, Hayley Williams, and the women involved in the Riot/Sista Grrrl movement who literally formed those movements in response to the white men who made them feel unsafe*. I guess misogyny is only okay when white men are the ones spewing it.
important reminder that most people you follow online are significantly lamer than you think they are including me. and if you feel insecure comparing yourself to someone online: DON'T. theyre probably also lame and weird. most people on the internet are
Absolutely not. Me and all of my friends are super cool and weird because we *breathe the death-giver* and *have whole worlds running on like 4w of ion gradients* and also all of us think Iâm cool which is a pretty cool thing to do imo.
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One of the terrifying things about chronic illness is watching time slip away from you. You spend almost all of your time just surviving, and like that you watch days turn into months and months turn into years and the time you have in which to do things slip away from you. But the pain and fatigue and the shear difficulty of living won't let up enough for you to actually live your life, so you just have to keep watching it pass you by.
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I hate posts like these that attempt to split hairs over individual oppression points to argue that one group of trans people has privilege over another (especially since, if we must, trans men notably have higher rates of sexual assault and less representation in government than trans women, facts that get conveniently ignored or even actively erased in these convos) because well. Itâs unproductive, but even moreso it becomes a breeding ground for rank TERFish transphobic bile to be spread around uncritically:
This is what TERFs believe, wholesale, and is just transphobia, nothing more. If you genuinely think itâs okay to say that trans men âtransitioned to manhood to benefit from the patriarchyâ you arenât safe for trans people to be around, yes even if youâre trans yourself. The idea that this is somehow âqueer solidarityâ would be laughable if it werenât so depressing.
I am once again mentioning that this "study" had 700 LGBT respondents. For the entire thing. This is compared to the 2015 USTS (link) which has 27k responses from JUST trans people. It shows that trans men, and nonbinary individuals who were AFAB, have a lower income on average than trans women and nonbinary individuals who were AMAB. In fact, in 2015, trans women in the US have the HIGHEST yearly income compared to any other subcategory of the trans community
Someone in the replies mentioned the number was 7000 not 700, which while still small, is an important note. I must also note about the 2015 study shared by intersexcat-tboy, that trans women and nonbinary/genderqueer folks who were AMAB in the study are on average more likely to be white than trans men and nonbinary/genderqueer folks who were AFAB, and the former group was on average older than the latter- both variables which affect income statistics, with race playing a heavy role.
The fact is that the true trans pay gap isn't between trans men and trans women, it's between white trans people and racialized trans people. This whole thing where we're bickering about which trans gender is doing better is fucking ridiculous when racialized trans people are on average, experiencing worse outcomes than white trans people on every metric.
Do trans men have systemic power over trans women? There really isn't a good evidence to back that up, nor is there any reason to believe the reverse. There is no steady metric for measuring the systemic power of one portion of a tiny minority against another, and it's stupid to bicker about it when we already know that different groups of trans people need support with different issues. Non-exhaustively, trans women tend to need support against stranger violence, and exclusion from education, and trans men tend to struggle with domestic violence, and discrimination in hospitals- and all trans people have higher rates of discrimination in all these fields than cis people. Most the issues trans people face are intimately connected to exploitation and violence at the hands of cis people- I mean not least because they are 98-99.6% of the population
But do white trans people have power over racialized trans people? Abso-fucking-lutely. White trans people are white before we are trans, point blank period.
I look at that and Iâm like?? Even if thatâs true both numbers are below the number for cis women so I figure no one here can possibly be described as benefitting from anything pay wise?? If trans men were benefitting from patriarchy the number would be 100 or higher. Like it is for men (as a whole, not taking into account the intersectional identities previous posts have adequately explained)