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sebastianshaw · 3 years

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Hi! I wanted to ask you that do you think Selene is queer? I have seen people talking about this, but I can't really find official sources.

There are no official sources on her sexuality, but I've always seen her as a lesbian, maybe bisexual, depending who is writing it and when. Unfortunately, the reason is because Claremont really enjoyed Predatory Lesbian villainesses who tried to corrupt young girls---see how he wrote Sat Yr Nin/Courtney Ross and Kitty Pryde---into being their proteges or prey. Which is. . . .not what you would call good representation. Claremont *did* do great queer rep with Mystique and Irene, and he tried really hard to push other wholesome, healthy same-sex relationships like Rachel/Kitty in a time where he couldn't be blatant about it, but the man also had his kinks. When non-Claremont writers are writing her, though, I think she’s straight. Because, since she’s not a real person, that can change; Marvel characters personalities, sexualities, powers, and histories all can change depending on the author, as we fans know. But I think Claremont wrote her as gay, and he created her, so I see her as gay, even though textually she’s had sex with men, and only men, when OTHER writers wrote her. You could just say she’s bi, but that isn’t textual either. Anyway--- So, to give you sources as to what I'm talking about, and why I interpret Selene this way-- (under the cut for length and lots of images) and you can decide for yourself what you think!

We first meet Selene in New Mutants #9, not as a dark sorceress or the Black Queen, but an ordinary woman. . . albeit one living in Nova Roma and married to a Senator, Marcus Domitius Gallio. Yup, she was married to a man, and that's where the oft-quoted surname "Gallio" for her comes from. . . and why it bugs me tremendously. Gallio is a dead and forgotten character, who Selene likely married only for power in the patriarchal Nova Roma society, and I don't see why she would keep his name hanging on to her like a remora. Especially since I doubt this was the first time she married a powerful man before in order to influence society from behind the scenes while keeping her true self secret. Either way, there's never any affection between the pair, just a mutual desire for power. Speaking of her true secret self, it's revealed in New Mutants #10 that Selene is not just the witchcraft-practicing wife of the Senator Gallio, but The Black Priestess, the fabled object of a death cult's worship who abducts young girls who are then sacrificed to her in a volcano. It's never really specified why she specifically wants young girls. . . nor why, before their sacrifice, she has them dressed like this:

Now, none of this is TEXTUAL homosexuality. It's an evil lady trying to kill the heroines by tossing them into a volcano. But the imagery and the way it's presented---the specific choice of nubile teen girls only for her prey when there's no reason for it, the fact they're placed in skimpy attired and hypnotized (mind control was also a big kink for Claremont) , the way Selene looms behind Amara with the grasping clawlike hands as she talks about how she "knew you would someday be mine, to take as I did your mother" is very subtextual in its queercoding of the scary lesbian preying on scared young girls. Then Amara's mutation awakens and the girls fight back in New Mutants #11

"Soon, Danielle, you'll be able to do this too. And in time, you'll come to love it as much as I." So, Selene doesn't just want to prey on girls, she wants to make them like her. This was and still is a very common homophobic belief, that gay people want to make other people, usually younger people or children, gay as well. Now, it would be a HUGE REACH for me to say that Selene is queer-coded JUST from this single page, but it's not about this single page. It goes on. For instance, taunting Magma at a Hellfire Club party: "You look as delectable as ever, my child."

If that statement seems innocuous, please imagine if a MALE villain said that to a teenage heroine. Speaking of the Hellfire Club and male villains, I've found a surprising amount of people seem to think Selene and Sebastian Shaw were an item. I guess it's due to their titles as Black King and Black Queen. But they were NOT. Selene actually tries to kill Shaw upon meeting him, and the two loathe each other. There's not even any sexual tension, they just despise each other. And throughout the entire 80s, Selene shows NO INTEREST romantically or sexually in ANY man. And the 80s are the time that her creator, the aforementioned Claremont, was writing her. She DOES show interest in men later though, and is in fact downright rapey on at least one occasion, such as Marvel Comics Presents #78 with the Hulk of all people. So I guess she went from a Lesbian Predator to a Bisexual Predator, which is. . .not any better. But back to girls, it's not just Amara she's fixated on (which could be attributed to her claim---assuming it's true and not just to fuck with Amara's head---that she's Amara's ancestor) She's also pretty into Rachel. Sometimes at the same time as Amara. This starts in Uncanny X-Men #190

As you can see, Selene looming over younger women in skimpy costumes is a theme. And again, the theme of her making young girls her proteges. Which she desired of Rachel in Uncanny X-Men #184

She literally jumps out of a dark alley, cups Rachel’s chin, and tells her to “yield to my dark embrace!” to which Rachel screams and runs. Again, TEXTUALLY, Selene is not trying to have sex with her, she’s trying to recruit her as an heir. Subtextually. . . .again, she’s a literal predator who targets young women and attempts to make them like she is, usually involving them in skimpy outfits, and says stuff like “’yield to my dark embrace” and “I knew you would be mine” and “you look as delectable as ever” and LITERALLY COMES OUT OF A DARK ALLEY TO GRAB A YOUNG WOMAN LIKE THE ULTIMATE RAPIST CLICHE Like, it’s subtextual, but it is THERE. And again, imagine if a man did this, I don’t think we’d be debating if he was creeping on these girls. Also when a young man rescues the fleeing Rachel and takes her home, Selene comes into the apartment and kills him, make of that what you will. Textually, it’s probably for functional purposes---feeding and getting rid of witnesses---but idk I think you could read it as jealousy. In Uncanny X-Men #189, reprinted in X-Men Classic #93 (the copy I own) she catches Rachel and Magma invading the Hellfire Club in order to kill her. . . .and she proceeds to mind control them and walk them on chain leashes while they wear sexy maid uniforms.

Of course, it should be noted that: 1) She didn’t put them in the maid uniforms, those were part of their disguises 2) She offers them to Sebastian Shaw (who fucking glowers at her and does NOT take “the gift” don’t worry!!) which I don’t think is very lesbian of her, y’know? But the imagery is still very. . .there. Like whatever is actually going on, she’s still being depicted with these two young girls, AGAIN, mentally enslaved to her and in sexualized outfits. Which is, as I’ve said, a repeating theme. Selene’s interest in Magma, Rachel, and trying to menace or recruit teen girls in a suggestive way MYSTERIOULSY waned off when Claremont stopped writing her, as far as I can tell . . .and came back when he returned to Marvel. In Uncanny X-men #454, Selene interrupts a romantic moment between Rachel and a man, once more insisting that “we are fated to be one” while turning herself into living shadow that constricts around Rachel’s body. Make of that what you will.

Selene is then defeated. . . by Rachel kissing a boy

Literally, I can’t make this up. Honestly, given how hard Claremont ships Rachel and Kitty---he’s literally described them as soulmates and wrote them as married in one AU-- I am kinda surprised he did this, but I guess he figured that there was no better way to show that Selene Is A Big Evil Lesbian than to have her defeated by the power of some m/f smoochins And then Rachel never calls poor Red Lotus back, lol (he’s the dude, he’s an obscure fave of mine) When Claremont ISN’T writing Selene, she’s. . . .friendlier to guys. Under Claremont’s pen, they’re treated as foes (Sebastian Shaw), stepping stones to power that she doesn’t even PRETEND to have affection for (Senator Gallion, Friedrich Von Roehm), or just food (though she feeds on lots of ladies too, she’s equal opportunity). She only makes creepy comments to women, she only tries to recruit women, specifically, again, teen girls, usually Rachel or Amara. When someone else is writing her. . .again, she was overtly sexually interested in the Hulk and would NOT take no for answer, and in X-Men Unlimited #33 she and Emma are both clearly attracted to THIS POOR FELLOW. . . she also recruited Sunspot as her Black King in the 90s but I don’t think she was interested in him romantically. She was shown as sexually involved with Wither, whom she recruited in Necrosha. So basically, she’s interested in men when non-Claremont writers write her. Also, Claremont is NOT the only writer to queer-code her, though! I almost forgot her 90s fling with Madelyne Pryor! Which I can’t believe, since it’s a big part of my headcanon for Maddie being bi too! Okay, so it’s the 90s, and Madelyne Pryor is mysteriously resurrected, with no memory besides her name, and is companions with Nate Grey. Guess who has her eye on her in X-Man #7?

So, even if we take Selene’s interest in Maddie as purely platonic power-hungriness. . . .give me one heterosexual explanation as to why she has her maid dress like that? Anyway, Selene pulls the “Imma come out of the dark alley” trick with Maddie like she did Rachel, but with a bit more success, perhaps because she offered her some jewelry (shaped like an apple---symbolism for temptation much?) and Maddie is intrigued

Selene vanishes and Nate returns to Maddie’s side, but Maddie takes off, running into the night in search of Selene. She finds her, and Selene promises her that “at my side, you will rise up to a new height” and when Maddie asks “What about Nate?” Selene replies “What about him? He’s only a boy.” Selene then convinces Maddie that Maddie is dangerous to Nate anyway, and the two disappear as Nate runs after them futiley calling Maddie’s name. We don’t see what become of Maddie for about ten issues, then in X-Man #16 we find out she’s been living in Selene’s wonderfully uber-gothic spooky mansion, with her every need attended by the maid Ella (including in the bath!) and she at last discovers that Selene is an energy-vampire, who greets her like this:

Oh, she wants to make Maddie her “heir apparent” what a shock! Alas, it’s not to be---Maddie switches teams on Selene, and becomes Sebastian Shaw’s lover instead. Which you’d think would be awful, but actually they were a pretty normal couple, he was good to her, he didn’t try to use her in any evil schemes, he never compared her to Jean or confused them, he actually recognized her INSTANTLY as not being Jean, which is. . .interesting. But yeah, sorry, Selene. So, was Selene trying to put the moves on Maddie? It’s not at all as overt as Claremont’s stuff, to the point I think that, unlike Claremont, the writer might not have even intended it, but I felt like it was worth including. Especially with Ella the maid. Cuz really. So, is Selene queer? Textually, no, we have no confirmation on what Selene’s sexuality is, but she has engaged in sexual relationships with men onscreen and expressed attraction to them, and never with women. Subtextually. . . .well, you read this post, you decide for yourself based on the evidence presented. Since it’s open to interpretation, I don’t want to tell you what to think, but I can tell you that this is why other people say that. And why I do personally interpret Selene as a lesbian, problematic and predatory though she is. Or, more specifically, I believe she’s a lesbian when she’s written by Claremont, who is her creator, and she’s straight or bi when written by other writers. I guess you could split the difference and say she’s bi, but it’s ultimately up to you. Thank you for the question, and I’m sorry the answer took me a bit! I wanted to gather all the sources so you could decide for yourself and not take my word for it ^^

#selene #selene gallio #lgbt in comic #the hellfire club #Out of shirt

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imaginariumrpc · 3 years

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imaginarium : a place devoted to the imagination, largely devoted to simulating and cultivating the imagination, towards scientific, artistic, commercial, recreational and/or spiritual ends.

Hello, bonjour and pusu’l, lovelies! My name’s Arcana, I’m twenty years old, a Canadian, a Solar Cancererian, a Lunar Sagittarian and a Rising Libra, according to the Western Zodiac, and a Dragon according to the Chinese Zodiac, Genderfluid, Multigender, Transgender, Non-Binary, Intersex, Queer, Autigender, Pearlian, Two Spirit, Androgynos, Draoidhe, DemiOmniBiromantic/DemiOmniBisexual, Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent, ENFP, Ravenpuff, Thunderbird, Otherkin, Therian, an Animist, a Pagan and I’m intrigued in the occult and witchcraft and I am additionally a white passing mixed triracial multi-indigenous person of color or more specifically, of Mi’kmaw, Wyandot, Wolastoqiyik, Métis and Sephardi Jewish heritage! I like cuddling and playing with cats and dogs and animals, eating pizza, taking pictures, music, reading, writing, gushing about friends and helping others. So with that said, I’m here to present you guys my new rpc / rph / aesthetic / inspiration / resource / personal / edit blog ! It’s for my own use but it can also be for your use ( provided you don’t take any of my original content off of this blog without my express permission ), the rpc and anyone else who wishes to use it, too! It features musings, codes, psd’s, psa’s, memes and a LOT more sprinkled with the occasional original content from me.

WHAT I DO:

a discord server affliated with this blog.

faceclaim help. ( poc, lgbtqia2+ and underused faceclaims included! )

alternate faceclaim suggestions ( send me a faceclaim that you don’t want to use and I’ll make a list of alternates. )

fancasts ( send me a character and i’ll make a post of potential faceclaims. )

name help.

label help.

plot help.

admin advice.

url help.

muse help. ( i.e names, concepts, character creation, worldbuilding, lore, etc. )

guides &&. tutorials.

general advice and being here to talk to.

rp advice.

opinions. ( depending on what it is. )

memes.

musings.

muse inspo.

base icon batches ( uncommon, but will open on occasion. )

psd recommendations.

shoutouts.

masterlists.

promo’s. ( provided you submit it to me as a photo. )

psa’s.

unpopular opinions.

character metas. ( occasionally, depending on the muse and on the fandom. )

positivity. ( muses — be they canon or original, fandom aligned or otherwise, and muns. )

venting. ( nothing hateful or discriminatory ! )

rants. ( nothing hateful or discriminatory ! )

first look reviews. ( on occasion. )

critiques. ( on occasion. )

in-depth blog reviews. ( on occasion. )

muse archetype aesthetic edits / moodboards. ( i.e the artist, the femme fatale, etc. )

dynamic / bond / family / friendship / squad / ship edits / moodboards ( poc, interracial and lgbtqia2+, polyamorous, m/m / mlm, f/f / wlw and nblnb included! )

faceless muse edits. ( muses of color and ships included! )

character emotional traits.

multiple genres, time periods and settings. ( i.e: historical, antiquity, medieval, vintage, modern, supernatural, fantasy, apocalypse, action, horror, science fiction, etc. )

aesthetics. ( i.e dark academia, solarpunk, retro, goth, lovecore, etc. )

theme recommendations.

template recommendations.

family templates ( occasional. )

fandom lists ( eventually. )

masculine, feminine and nonbinary.

cultural awareness.

locations ( including but not limited to interiors, exteriors, homes, and all the continents. ).

scenery.

nature.

animals.

mythology.

weddings.

religion ( specifically for muses from certain religions i.e jewish and muslim muses, etc. )

disabled and neurodivergent muse representation and resources.

resources and representation for the lgbtqia2+ / mogai community and its muses, i.e lesbian muses, gay muses, bi muses, trans* ( including nonbinary, genderfluid, genderless and other non-cisgender ) muses, queer muses, intersex muses, aromantic / asexual muses and two spirited muses, among other muses that are considered queer.

resources and representation for all muses of color, including black muses, indigenous / native muses, latinx muses, asian muses ( all asians, not just east asians ! ), pasifika muses, jewish muses, etc., that overpower than that of white muses, there are still resources for white muses, though muses of color will always be a priority on this blog.

resources for portraying pregnant muses ( will be tagged! ).

resources for portraying muses who practice witchcraft.

resources for portraying muses who are sex workers.

resources for muses of all ages, including children, adolescents, adults and elders.

resources for animated muses.

resources for nonhuman muses.

cuisine.

makeup ( for muses of all genders ! ).

tattoos.

nsfw. ( will be tagged ! )

pride flags.

texts.

userboxes.

seasons.

colors.

zodiac.

typography.

concepts.

plots.

imagine your otp/ot3/etc.

“make me choose” events.

confessions.

wardrobe.

physique ( friendly to all skin tones, body types, shapes and sizes! ).

wishlist.

faves.

crack.

shitposts.

mun stuff.

music playlists ( including my own spotify playlists ).

aesthetics and edits of my own muses.

resources and character tags for my muses.

stimboards.

occasionally post some of my fanfiction / drabble works.

occasional drabble / fanfic requests.

occasionally post some of my music works.

possibly post specific music edits when i figure out how to do so.

more to be added when i think of something.

WHAT I WILL NOT DO:

callout posts.

drama posts.

get involved in discourse.

flame other people.

bash on characters, fandoms and/or ships.

post recent spoilers of a series without tagging it.

tolerate bigoted, homophobic, lesbophobic, biphobic, omniphobic, panphobic, aphobic, arophobic, transphobic, enbyphobic, queerphobic, racist, colorist, sexist, exorsexist, intersexist, heterosexist, anti-polyamory, anti-mogai, anti-neopronouns, anti-nounself pronouns, anti-emojiself pronouns, anti-self diagnosis or mental health gatekeeper, victim blaming, gender/orientation/mental health gatekeeping, anti-otherkin, anti-feminist, ageist, speciesist, ableist, fatphobic, anti-black, anti-native, islamophobic, antisemitic, antiromani, xenophobic, exclusionist, transmeds/truscum, terfs/swerfs, radfems, heightist, sizeist, discrimination on cultures and subcultures, discrimination on religion or lack thereof, mysogynist/misandrist, white supremacist or any kind of supremacist honestly, nationalist, linguistic discrimination, or otherwise hateful, discriminatory, derogatory, vulgar and just overall dumb language, speech, behaviors and attitudes.

gif requests.

gif hunts.

manips.

textures.

crackship edit requests ( unless stated otherwise. )

edited icon batches ( unless if i’m releasing my own that i no longer use. )

theme / page / code making.

psd making.

more to be added if i think of something.

So, with that said, PLEASE like and/or reblog this if you’re interested in using it or at the very least spread the word! I really want to try and help people and have fun with you guys, but I can’t do that if this doesn’t get any notes. You can find out more information by reading my F.A.QHERE! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you all have a wonderful morning/day/evening/night! Yours truly, with all of my love, Arcana.

#** blog; psa.#** rpc; promo.#tw; long post #** blog; mod post.#** blog; mine.#!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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traegorn · 1 year

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I posted 1,398 times in 2022

509 posts created (36%)

889 posts reblogged (64%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@traegorn

@gingerblivet

@hockpock

@libraford

@rose-in-a-fisted-glove

I tagged 234 of my posts in 2022

#witch - 99 posts

#witchblr - 98 posts

#witchcraft - 91 posts

#witchtok - 59 posts

#wicca - 14 posts

#nonbinary - 10 posts

#genderqueer - 10 posts

#the bs-free witchcraft podcast - 10 posts

#youtube - 8 posts

#crystals - 7 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#accidentally stabbing myself with a pencil while putting my hand in my pocket while running a training for 20 new contractors at my old job

My Top Posts in 2022:

Ah yes, @llycaons has become today's volunteer.

One, Tumblr runs off of ad revenue. You have two choices on this site to support it -- be okay with seeing ads or pay for ad-free. Harassing advertisers actually helps no one, because it discourages folks from running ads.

Which means tumblr makes less money, and as the site is already losing money that could lead to its eventual shut down. You don't have to like the ads, but you literally signed up for this.

Two, according to your account you are an adult. You are capable of blocking blogs you don't like seeing, blocking tags you don't like, or even installing an ad blocker and circumventing the system that pays for the site you're actively using. Curate your own experiences my dude, and stop trying to force other people to do it for you.

Three, I like a lot of the stuff I've seen blazed to my dash -- so nah, you're just objectively wrong. Get a bigger sample size next time.

Now fuckle on off, Fuckalong Cassidy.

983 notes - Posted November 27, 2022

The uselessness of Witchcraft Author "Blacklists"

Every once and a while I see a "Witchcraft Author Blacklist" either in the tags or getting passed around here on Tumblr, and never in my life have I thought it was a remotely useful thing.

Because every single time, they lack and semblance of nuance. Like yesterday I ran across one that literally equated Scott Cunningham with Stephen Flowers. Yes, Cunningham, a person who wrote some things that need to be read critically is, apparently, as bad as a literal fucking Nazi whose books help fund the AFA.

Like are there Cunningham books I wouldn't recommend? Absolutely. Should most of his works be read with a critical eye and take into account the state of the community and available information when he was writing them? Yes. But... like... there's a huge fucking difference between these two things.

Also, this list claimed because Cunningham wrote about Wicca his works were somehow homophobic. Have there been homophobic Wiccans? Of course - but Cunningham, an openly gay man, was not one of them.

Additionally, there are people who get included on these lists where I wouldn't recommend anyone read their books to learn witchcraft per se, but their works have important historical significance.

Like Gerald Gardner - should anyone learn from Gardner? Fuck no. His works are full of misinformation and outright bullshit. But it literally is where the modern witchcraft movement was birthed, so there is value in understanding where we came from.

Aleister Crowley falls into this category too - harder even. Crowley was gross as heck, but how can you understand what in the modern community is still descended from his works or propagating his gross ideas... if you're unfamiliar with his works?

Also, he's super dead, so it's not like he's benefiting from someone reading his stuff.

It's just so deeply frustrating that people make these lists to start with. Like, I have written or talked about how certain authors should be avoided -- but I always do my best to include context, reasons, and explanations why. I will specifically explain why I don't think they're valuable to read. Making a laundry list where you make unsourced or unexplained claims about a huge list of people doesn't help someone understand what might be wrong with them.

Also, my recommendations are usually about how a new witch shouldn't read their work, because it's about not having the experience to see what is and isn't bullshit in what they read yet. They don't have that baseline yet. That doesn't mean that some of these books might not be significant or worth reading at some point in their journey. Just not at the start of it.

It's just... a complete lack of nuance. Like I don't recommend Silver Ravenwolf because her books are, frankly, poorly researched and bad. I don't recommend Stephen Flowers because he's a fuckin' overt WHITE SUPREMACIST whose publications have been used to fund the AFA. These are not the same. When we pretend that they are, we are doing a massive disservice to all of us.

It... it honestly feels like Christian purity culture repackaged. If you can't handle nuance, I don't think you can really handle that much witchcraft to start with. The world isn't black and white -- there are overt evils out there, but most everything else is a shade of gray and pretending otherwise is poisonous.

1,264 notes - Posted August 29, 2022

So there's a thing that a lot of tumblr users don't know about -- older ones because it didn't used to be like this, and newer ones because... they're new?

Anyways -- one of the biggest pains of Tumblr is that finding old posts can be hard. The search is terrible, and is overall useless. The easiest solution to this has always been that you can go through your "archive" -- for example here's mine: https://traegorn.tumblr.com/archive

Notice how that URL starts with my username. Longtime users will be like "Of course it does. That's your Tumblr URL." But here's the thing -- a lot of new accounts don't have that. Like, if you type it in (minus the /archive part) it kinda works still -- but it redirects you from username.tumblr.com to tumblr.com/username. And from there, the archive function does not work.

You see, to make your "Tumblr Blog" an actual, well, blog you have to turn it on manually now.

To do that, on the web, go to your blog settings and find this one:

Turning on "custom theme" will enable your blog to function and give you all the features.

Now there are reasons some folks might not want to do this. First off, that does mean sites like Google will be able to spider your blog and things can end up on public searches. If you don't want your Tumblr activity public do not turn it on. That's a choice I leave up to you. But, like, also... I've seen Tumblr accounts ostensibly set up to promote people's works but not have this turned on making the audience they're trying to reach less likely to find them.

But this is a thing that used to always be on. I found out one of my old sideblogs had it turned off that I never wanted it to be set that way. The choice is yours, do what you want.

I'm not your mom.

4,288 notes - Posted November 14, 2022

People who get mad at seeing any post blazed are so funny to me.

This site works because either someone pays for ads, or you pay to not see ads. That's what pays Tumblr's bills.

4,533 notes - Posted November 1, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I'm here.

I'm queer.

I'd like to go back to bed now.

11,183 notes - Posted July 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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gabrielhatesmaps · 4 years

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Y’all probably don’t remember me, but hi. My name is Gigi and I turned 18 over a month ago. This account, along with my old main, will probably be deleted soon. I’ll be making a new blog (one focused on witchcraft and some other of my interests). I won’t be sharing it here since I’d like to leave everything behind and start a new.

The reason I’m deleting everything is because all these accounts were owned by me when I was 13-15. Back then I was an uneducated, easily influenced child who believed everything you said. I had internalized homophobia (which is funny cause i turned out gay), talked shit about my old high schools gender inclusive decisions, and openly supported racist creators/friends. I sincerely apologize for all my actions that have harmed/hurt anyone. What I did was inexcusable and once again, I am completely sorry.

During this time I was surrounded by a lot of toxic people both at home and online. At the age of 13 I was with a man 4-5 years older than me who for over a year convinced me to do nsfw rp’s with him. He wasn’t the first one who’s done this but he was the one who’s stuck out the most. Nothing was irl, it was all over Twitter, but he’s still emotionally and physically damaged me.

I had friends who would constantly make fun of me, turned my own name into an insult, a word meaning annoying. One time they accused me of being homophobic for crying and begging them to stop sending me furry p0rn. I felt safe nowhere at this point on the Internet.

When I was on tumblr, I ended up making friends with really bad people. They showed me so much niceness and an actual support system I felt like I could trust. The issue? They were extremely problematic. Just associating with them made me hated, which was completely understandable. I was so awful to so many people. I said and posted things for /their/ approval. Once again, I was uneducated and the things I said were awful and shouldn’t be defended. I am simply explaining my situation in hopes for people to understand my point of view.

I watched right winged videos/propaganda and took them all as fact, turned out any other information I was given. I will not stop saying how sorry I am for everything I’ve said and done. I’m not excusing my actions, I’m saying I was uneducated, easily influenced and dumb. That was all 3-5 years ago. I’ve grown to be a bigger, better person. I’ve cut all the awful/toxic people in my life, I’ve educated myself, I am moving on from the past. I am a new better person. I was justice in the world for all the minorities that are/have been hurt. Please sign petitions, please spread the word. This world isn’t perfect, it never will be, but you can help. I’ll be providing a carrd for resources where /you/ can help.

Once again, I am sorry for past me’s actions, let us all join together and help others out who can’t help themselves. Wear a mask, wash your hands, drink water, and stay safe <3

#apology #goodbye #moon mumbles #acab

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tobashiarg-blog-archive · 5 years

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Turns Out Being a Super Hero Is Actually Really Gay! - Chapter 6

Boom bitches! Guess who’s fucking back! Thank you all for your endless support and patients because that is truly the thing that motivates me to write this. The fact that you all are having fun and enjoying my story brings me so much joy! Once again, thank you to the brilliant @sugarglider9603 and @ask-spiderverse-virgil for creating this au, go show give them all the love in the world! Now please, ENJOY!!!

(TRIGGER WARNING: minor assault/harassment ((don’t worry it’s stopped before it happens)), homophobic slurs ((the f word)), and mild homophobia)

Master Post

Beginning

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It was bound to be awkward for a while but this was just getting ridiculous. Ever since Virgil had stepped into Roman’s apartment, they hadn’t said a single word to each other, merely keeping to themselves and doing their half of the work. It wasn’t like Roman didn’t WANT to talk to Virgil it was just…him and Virgil had this really tense…relationship? No, not like that! Like in that way where you have no idea if you’re friends or not. Roman didn’t want to say something that might sound rude or be interpreted the wrong way and set Virgil off. It wasn’t like her was TRYING to be rude it’s just he kind of liked pushing Virgil’s buttons and he knew for a fact Virgil liked pushing his, they just had no idea where a line should be drawn. Unlike with him and Logan where it was a clash of ego vs ego, with Virgil it was like this sort of game.

“So…” Virgil said suddenly, causing Roman to jump a bit in surprise “…where are you in your part of the essay?”

Roman looked down at his notes before looking to scan his laptop at the Word document he had open, “Just about finished, about two or three more paragraphs. Then I’ll go over and edit out all the grammatical and spelling mistakes.”

“Cool,” Virgil nodded awkwardly “I’m about the same.”

“Cool.” Roman echoed.

Silence filled the room, even more awkward then before.

“Are you a witch?” Jenni asked. The boy turned to find the twins still hiding behind the couch, though it was less hiding and more hanging off the back of it.

“Excuse me?” Virgil asked, confused.

Roman wanted to scream but he didn’t, so instead he let the twins continue to embarrass him. For some reason lately Jenni has been really obsessed with witches, maybe it had to do with that girl, Scarlet Witch, that keeps showing up with the Avengers. She wasn’t as “scary” as the Black Widow so it was only natural for Jenni to gravitate towards her as an idol. Jenni repeated her question, “Are you a witch?”

“Of course, he’s not, dummy!” Marco snorted “He’s a boy! Only girls can be witches!”

“Harry Potter was a witch!” Jenni countered, getting up in Marco’s face.

“Nah-uh, he was a wizard, stupid!” Marco replied, just as stubborn.

“Roman, Marco called me a bad word!” Jenni screeched, pointing an accusing finger at her twin.

“Marco, that’s not very nice, apologize now,” Roman said firmly and just before his little brother could protest, he added “Or else I’m gunna tell mom.”

Marco grumbled a halfhearted apology before quickly returning to their current conversation topic, “So, are you a wizard?”

“Witch!” Jenni corrected.

Virgil chuckled behind his palm, seemingly amused by the commotion of everything. That was good, at least Roman thought so, Virgil was at least laughing and not running for the door. “Uh, I don’t know about wizard, the term is mainly used in European fairy tales mostly. Witches or witchcraft has been around for a much longer time and has many branches and history behind it while wizard is mostly in works of fiction.”

“So, you are a witch?” Jenni said excitedly with a smug side eye look towards her twin.

“Um, I don’t think witch is the politically correct term,” Virgil chuckled and Roman couldn’t help but join him “more then likely I’d be a Shaman or a Wu, a Chinese shaman, but I have absolutely no clue about either of those practices, so…no, sorry.”

Jenni pouted and Roman gasped in mock scandal, “Virgil! How could you crush my little sister’s dreams like that!”

“Hey, what did you want me to say?” Virgil snapped, though he was still smiling “I wasn’t going to lie to her!”

“Wait, there are other types of witches?” Marco pipped up curiously.

“Uh, yeah, kind of,” Virgil shrugged “it’s really more of a craft then a term; witchcraft, magick, shamanism, voodoo, hoodoo, and a lot of others. It varies from country to country but sometimes share certain elements with each other, be it religion or method of practice.”

“Geez, are you sure you’re not a witch?” Roman teased, reaching over to poke Virgil’s cheek.

Virgil rolled his eyes and swatted his hand away, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure?”

“Then how come you know all this stuff?” Roman chuckled.

“Cause it’s interesting,” Virgil replied somewhat defensively “not everyone is obsessed with Disney and musicals.”

“Hey, I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” Roman said, putting his hands up in mock surrender “just that it’s not something people usual find interest in and that’s fine too.”

Virgil huffed, fiddling with the edge of his ever-present beanie, “Yeah, whatever.”

“I think it’s cool!” Jenni pipped up, cheerily.

“Me too!” Marco added just as enthusiastically “Roman’s just lame!”

“Hey.” Roman pouted and received the annoying sound of raspberries as payment from his younger brother. Virgil was laughing again, tension gone from his shoulders once more as he ran a hand under his beanie and through his hair. The flimsy hat slipped off the emo’s head and reviled something truly horrifying. The twins stopped their antics to openly stare and Roman’s eyes got wide in shock.

“What?” Virgil asked, obviously starting to freak out over everyone’s sudden silence and staring.

“Uh,” Roman cleared his throat nervously, carefully choosing his words “I want to preface this by saying I’m NOT trying to be rude or a jerk but…what happened to your hair?”

Finally realizing he was no longer wearing his beanie Virgil freaked, cheeks turning pink as he quickly flipped his hoodie over his head and pulled the strings tight. “N-nothing…”

“Well, it don’t seem like nothing,” Roman responded, waving his arm dramatically before pausing to think “…Is this like a medical thing? Because if it is I’m really-”

“No, n-no, no,” Virgil cut in “it’s just…I-I, um…m-my hand got, uh…stuck.”

Roman nodded slowly before realizing Virgil probably couldn’t see him at the moment, “Okay, and when was this?”

“When we found out, uh…” Virgil paused a moment, most likely thinking up a way to explain what happened without exposing themselves to Jenni and Marco who were still in the room, “…when we formed the club, in the morning, I had an…accident.”

“I see,” Roman sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration “your telling me you had that monstrosity hidden under that tasteless beanie for three whole days? And you didn’t think to, I don’t know, ask your parents to help you fix it or have them take you to a barber?”

“Honestly,” Virgil sighed, sliding down under the coffee table enough so that he could rest his chin on it “I kind of forgot, to busy still freaking out over…the club, then I remembered, then I got embarrassed, then I just decided not to say anything so…yeah.”

How this boy was still alive and functioning in this world Roman will probably never know but that wasn’t important at the moment. What was important was that he let that hideous abomination atop of Virgil’s head enter his house (er, apartment) and Roman would not stand for it. Taking a breath Roman turned to the twins, “Jenni get the clipper bag, Marco get my brushes.”

“Okay.” They replied before scampering off to do as they were told.

“What’s happening?” Virgil asked, eyes wide with worry.

Roman stood up and stretched, “I’m going to fix that absolute sin you call hair. Come and sit in the kitchen, easier to clean the floor.”

Virgil scooted somewhat back, glaring at Roman pointedly, “Uh, thanks but no thanks. I rather not make it worse then what it is.”

Roman scoffed, rolling his eyes, “You’ll be fine Sweeny Toad, my mother used to be a hair dresser so I picked up a few things. Now come on,” He moved a seat from the dining table to the center of the kitchen “sit.”

Jenni and Marco soon returned with the clipper bag and brushes and sat back on the stools behind the counter as if waiting for a show to start. Virgil was still curled up like a feral cat and all that was left was for him to start hissing. Roman rolled his eyes once more, having dealt with bratty children (Read: the twins) before who didn’t want to sit still for their hair cut.

“Trust me,” Roman said “I cut and manage the twins’ hair all the time, you’ll be fine. If there is one thing I know NOT to mess with it’s hair.”

Virgil continued to glare at him and Roman sighed in response, “Come on, it can’t get any worse then what it is now. And if it does,” He raised the scissors in his hands and snipped the air “I’ll let you take a stab at me a payback. What do you say?”

Slowly Virgil uncurls from himself, sliding out from under the coffee table and standing to face them. Roman raised a perfectly arched eyebrow and Virgil raised one back in response, “If you f…mess up my hair I will shave your head off.”

“Fine,” Roman shrugged, not at all startled by the threat “but you’re gunna have to sit in the chair so I can start.”

Virgil glared at him for a few more moments before his shoulders sagged in defeat and he dragged his feet towards the kitchen. Crossing his arms, the emo plopped down in the chair where Roman quickly pulled down his hoodie and grimaced. “Oh, you poor thing, why do you hate your hair so much?”

“Just get it over with.” Virgil grumbled and that was all the consent Roman needed to start trimming.

---

The planetarium was huge, a large dome like ceiling with rows of seats spiraling inwards. The Quinn and Foster brothers took a seat near the center row with Patton and Logan sitting next to each other between everyone. Morgan gave Logan a sly smile and Logan was half tempted to elbow him again if he wasn’t worried about causing his brother possible internal damage from being hit twice at half force by a super human spider. He instead opted to punch his brother’s shoulder as lightly as he could possibly manage though it seemed not to be light enough for Morgan.

“Why must you hurt me?” Morgan whined, rubbing his sore shoulder.

“So, have you ever been to a planetarium show before?” Patton whispered, leaning in close to Logan.

“Uh, yes,” Logan replied, all to grateful for the dim room that covered his burning cheeks “but I have not seen this particular showing. I’ve been to others, much smaller but still just as captivating. Though when it comes to the vast wonders of space even the smallest shows can be an enjoyable experience.”

Patton smiled at him, still just as bright in the dim lighting, “I didn’t know you loved space so much.”

“I, uh,” Logan cleared his throat “I enjoy the subject of it, yes, it’s quite a fascinating topic.”

“If you like it so much then why don’t you join the astronomy club?” Patton asked curiously “One of my friends from culinary club, Valerie, is president of it, I’m sure they’d love a new member. They don’t get a lot of funding from the school because obviously,” Patton scoffed bitterly before perking up again “so they have to do a lot of fundraisers and I sometimes help out. But other than that, I heard it’s a lot of fun, currently they’re raising money to go to the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida.”

Logan felt giddy with excitement but he was quick to compose himself, “Uh, that sounds lovely Patton, but I fear that I am far too busy with my studies and other after school activities as it is to even consider joining.”

Patton pouted, much too adorable for his own good and Logan had half a mind to take back everything he said. “Oh, that’s too bad. But hey, if you ever just want to pop in and say hello, I’m sure they’d be delighted to talk to you. I’ll let Valerie know.”

“Thank you, Patton, I appreciate it,” Logan smiled shyly, the lights began to dim even more and a voice from the speakers announce that the program would begin momentarily. He felt Patton tense slightly beside him and instinctively placed his hand over Patton’s closed fist which rested on the arm rest between them. “Don’t worry, the shows about to begin.”

“Mmh.” Patton hummed and he relaxed as they laid back in their seats and watched as the projection of space illuminate the darkness, never once letting go of each other’s hands.

“Way out here, ten million light years from planet Earth, every point of light is a galaxy containing billions of stars…”

Logan gulped thickly as he felt Patton’s hand shift just a bit, splaying out his fingers so that they could gently intertwine with Logan’s. He continued to look up at the ceiling where the universe twinkled and shined before him, a kaleidoscope of technicolor and wonder. The deep charming voice of Neil deGrasse Tyson took them into a journey through the cosmos, exploring the vast reaches of space that now felt so close. But even with the mesmerizing display of stars in front of him Logan could do nothing but revile in the warmth of Patton’s hold. The warm and smooth caress of his delicate finger tips and the pumping pulse beneath his skin that let Logan know that he was alive and full of warmth and sweetness.

“We’re flying through a three-dimensional atlas of millions of galaxies. The gaps are regions we have yet to map. Beyond every galaxy we could ever observe, farthest away in space and furthest back in time, the cosmic background radiation marks the visible edge of our observable universe…”

He chanced a quick peek towards him, just something to settle his nerves and let him know that this was all real. Just as expected Patton was mesmerized by the vast array of stars swirling around and recreating their galaxy. Balls of gas and matter burned together to create planets within and out of their solar system, flashing burst of white and purple and blue and red and yellow. They filled the room with endless color and highlighted the tiny freckles across Patton’s skin which seemed to stand out like the all to familiar stars in the sky.

“The motions of galaxies within each cluster confirm the presence of dark matter. The galaxies orbit too fast to be held together by the gravity of normal matter alone. Remove the dark matter… its lensing stops … and the cluster flies apart.”

“Have you ever been so terrified yet so amazed by something all at the same time?” Patton wondered aloud, voice soft and in awe, still gazing up at their exploding universe.

Logan’s eyes never looked away from him, “Yes, I have.”

“As this time-lapse view of the Milky Way shows, stars explode fairly often—at a rate of about two per century in a galaxy like ours. So, if you observe enough galaxies, you can spot a new supernova every few nights…”

Logan was absolutely in awe with everything about Patton, from his terrible puns to the certain tenderness he kept in his heart. He always saw the best in the world but he was realistic about it all too, but even then, he showed kindness to even the most god-awful people. He was smart and brave in ways people often over looked as being a naïve boy with dumb luck. Patton was far from perfect but he was still incredibly amazing as well as terrifying. He made Logan feel things, many things, he didn’t ever think possible. Sometimes it was too much, sometimes it was not enough, other times it was airy and light but it could also be heavy and make him want to throw up. Logan had been sure he’d get over this infatuation with Patton quickly then return to his life as if it were normal again. But of course, that didn’t happen.

“Clearly there’s more to the universe than meets the eye. The Big Bang happened long ago but not far away. It happened here, there, and everywhere. Peering into the dark, we stand on the threshold of great discoveries—and we always will, as long as we keep exploring.”

The roar of applause and florescent lights softly piercing the darkness quickly snapped Logan out of his daze. The warmth of Patton’s hand slipped out from under him as he too joined the audience in their up roar and all Logan could do was copy numbly. This was all very draining and headache inducing, way too many emotions for one day. All Logan wanted to do was go home and sleep.

“That was so cool!” Patton squealed, excitedly jumping up and down “I always thought this kind of stuff would be boring or too hard for me to understand but it was really fascinating. No wonder you like space so much!”

“Yes, well,” Logan said, adjusting his glasses “the wonders of space are vast and endless so there is much to learn.”

“And yet, we’ve only explored 5% of the ocean,” Alex pipped up as he scanned over a pamphlet “I mean not that this isn’t amazing and all but isn’t it a bit concerning that we barely know anything about what covers most of our planet yet know so much about what’s outside it?”

“If it’s oceanic life you’re looking for they have an environmental exhibit here on display,” Morgan said, checking over their own map “right across from us after the American mammals.”

“Oh, you can read this map?” Alex said, turning over his pamphlet every which way “Thank god because I have no idea what I’m doing. I honestly got lost earlier and met that cute front desk lady by mistake.”

“I want to see the birds,” Georgie announced lowly.

“Ah, that’s on the second floor next to the African culture hall,” Morgan said helpfully “anything else?”

Logan sighed tiredly as Alex jumped at the opportunity, “Yeah, yeah, we should go see that, uh, dinosaur exhibit, I wanted to see that t-rex mother fucker.”

“That’s on the third floor,” Morgan said as he flipped through the map “right next to-”

“Guys,” Patton gently interrupted “they probably have their own plans for the evening. We don’t need to force them to be tour guides for us, we can find our own way around.”

“Aw, come on Pat,” Alex whined “we already got them here, might as well take advantage of those big brains of theirs. Could use a bit of relaxing from solving all the worlds problems by taking us shmucks on a tour. They already know how to use a map!”

Another quick smack across the head from Georgie had him shutting up, “Patton’s right, we should leave them alone.”

“Well, I don’t really mind,” Morgan admitted and Logan was now fully considering throwing caution to the wind and elbowing him again “what about you Lo?”

Just when Logan was about to shut down the idea and demand to go home Patton spoke up, big brown eyes on full display. Oh no. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, Lo. I’m sure we can find our way around no problem.”

“He lies!” Alex stage whispered, receiving another smack from Georgie.

Honestly, how was Logan going to ever say no to those eyes? Swallowing thickly Logan quietly murmured, “Is…there a particular exhibit you’re interested in, Patton?”

Patton’s smile was shy yet still beautiful and radiant, “Are you sure?”

Logan could only nod, much to afraid of his own voice.

“I…I would actually like to look at some of the environmental exhibits,” Patton admitted bashfully “anything with plants and flowers really.”

“That be right next to the oceanic exhibit,” Morgan announced “we can look through everything here on the first floor if you want before heading on up?”

“Sounds like a plan!” Alex exclaimed as he marched forward “Onwards troops!”

Georgie and Morgan trailed close behind with Logan in the back with Patton who rolled his eyes before shrugging and smiling tiredly, “I’m sorry in advance for whatever he does.”

“As am I with my own brother.” Logan chuckled as they made their way out of the planetarium, side by side and close enough that their swinging hands casually brushed against each other every once and a while.

---

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” Thomas asked worriedly. As promised MJ had given Thomas a drink with the works on the house before leading him towards a table near the back where MJ then proceeded to sit down with him. MJ untied his apron and threw it behind his seat before untucking his shirt and ruffling his already messy red hair. They danced like flames of ember and framed his freckled face perfectly.

“Uh, I don’t think there’s much work to do,” MJ chuckled, gesturing to the nearly empty coffee shop “unless you have somewhere important to me and want me to get out of your hair.”

“N-no, no,” Thomas stuttered “not for a while at least but I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“I’ll be fine,” MJ smirked, chin in hand as he leaned forward “I want to get to know my unconventional savior a bit more.”

Thomas was sure he’d permanently gone red, was flirting just how this guy spoke all the time? Thomas’s heart was not prepared for such onslaught of complements, “I’m not much to know.”

“There’s always much to know,” MJ laughed “especially with two strangers. But that’s usually easy because we’re both blank canvasses to each other so we just got to start painting.”

Thomas hesitated for a moment, “Do you work here often?”

Nice going loser…

MJ laughed again, beautiful and bell like, “Just temporary for the moment, I’m studying to be a nurse actually.”

“Oh, really,” Thomas said, actually kind of surprised that a guy who constantly puts himself in harms way would become someone that stiches up those kind of people “do you enjoy it?”

“Yeah,” MJ shrugged “it’s hard work but I like helping people. Plus, I don’t need to worry about going to the hospital every time I get into a scrap, I’ll be able to mend myself.”

Thomas huffed out an airy laugh, “I think you should be avoiding fight, you know?”

“Oh, I do,” MJ assured with a smirk “it’s just they can’t seem to avoid me. But lady luck must be on my side because she practically granted me a guardian angel. Well, guardian…spider? I don’t really know honestly.”

Thomas willed his cheeks to not flush more crimson as he asked, “Why do you think that?”

“You’re not gunna believe this but,” MJ rubbed the back of his neck nervously “I’ve kind of been saved by Rainbow Weaver a bit too many times. Poor guy, I must make his job a living hell if he has to keep dealing with me twice a week.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t mind,” Thomas said, casually sipping his drink “I mean, he is a hero so it’s his job to look out for people. I’m sure you’re fine and not a bother at all.”

MJ raised a suspicious eyebrow before smiling wide, “And how would you know that? Have you met him or something?”

“Maybe once or…twice,” Thomas fibbed “he’s a pretty chill dude so I assume he wouldn’t mind much.”

“Really?” MJ chuckled then took a deep sigh “Still, I really do tend to get into a lot of trouble.”

Yeah, no shit! Thomas added in his brain but smiled sympathetically on the outside, “I kind of get what you mean, I…admittingly, have a tendency to run into danger myself sometimes.”

“I can see that,” MJ teased “Mr. I-can-disarm-a-gun-single-handedly!”

He smiled sheepishly, hiding behind the rim of his coffee cup, “To be honest, a friend of mine showed me that move so I really can’t take all the credit.”

MJ pouted, cute and dramatic, “Are you denying my praise and admiration? How dare you, sir! I gave you free coffee and I only ever do that to big shot heroes!” A sly wink followed soon after “And good looking guys, both help, really.”

Thomas choked on his coffee, pounding his chest to bring back air into his lungs. Meanwhile, MJ giggled in delight at the sight of Thomas is misery and embarrassment, although he did lean forward to pat Thomas’s back. Once semi functioning MJ giggled again, leaning down to meet Thomas at eye level and the greying man had to control himself so that he wouldn’t go into another coughing fit. Steel blue eyes sparkled in amusement, “A bit too much?”

Thomas cleared his throat, “Maybe a little…sorry, I’ve, uh, never been…well, I haven’t been…”

“Flirted with?” MJ finished with a giggle “I find that very hard to believe.”

Thomas shrugged, “I-I mean, at least not with a really cute guy that apparently need to get saved twice a week.”

Now it was MJ’s turn to blush, freckles on full display like little constellations in the night sky. A goofy smile spreading across the red head’s face as he bit his bottom lip, “Maybe I need somebody to watch my back. Rainbow Weaver can’t be there all the time.”

“What makes you think I’m even qualified for the job?” Thomas asked with a shy shrug.

“Because you’re sweet,” MJ smiled “and you were willing to risk your life for a stranger.”

“I mean, I did get free coffee out of it,” Thomas smirked causing MJ to snort “plus, we’re hardly strangers, I know your name now and you know mine. And I also know that you’re studying to be a nurse! I’m pretty sure a stranger wouldn’t know that.”

“No, he wouldn’t, you’re right we’re practically lifelong friends,” MJ laughed, turning back to his apron at the back of his seat and digging through the pockets. He pulled out a black sharpie and took Thomas’s coffee cup to scribble over. “So, with that being established I think it is appropriate now for you…to have my number? And maybe…I could have yours?”

Thomas could only squeak out a wheezing, “Sure.”

---

“There, all done.” Roman put down the scissors on the counter and unwrapped the plastic wrap from around Virgil’s body. He dusted it off and proceeded to fold it as he circled around Virgil with a critical eye.

Virgil was been tense the entire time Roman was cutting his hair, he didn’t want to move even a centimeter for the fear Roman may actually fuck up. Jenni and Marco kept up casual conversation to keep him distracted, continuing to ask him about witches and what he knew about them. The were nice kids, definitely had Roman’s big personality, but still very sweet plus, they knew how to get under Roman’s skin and Virgil respected that. Then it was over and all of Virgil’s previous worries came flooding back all at once.

“How bad did you mess it up?” Virgil asked worriedly.

Roman scoffed, handing him a hand mirror before going off to sweep the kitchen, “Honestly, have a little more confidence in me.”

Virgil tentatively peered into the mirror to see what irreversible horrors awaited him. To his surprise it was actually a really nice cut, the left side was cut short in a smooth gradient sort of way while the right side was left longer and framed itself around his eye. It was a bit messy but Virgil guessed it was supposed to be that way, keeping to his aesthetic and all, but overall, he actually really liked it.

Virgil looked back up to give Roman his thanks and apologize for ripping on him earlier but froze to find that Roman was staring at him and frowning. Jesus, was he really that upset about Virgil not believing he could cut hair? “Uh, I actually kind of dig it so don’t worry about-”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that you like it,” Roman waved him off, leaning up against the counter as he continued to glare at him “I am amazing after all. It’s just now that I look at you I’m kind of pissed.”

“I’m sorry.” Virgil apologized, though for what he didn’t know.

“I like his hair cut!” Marco announced.

“Me too!” Jenni added “He looks cute!”

Virgil flushed red and Roman finally burst, “That’s the problem! I was honestly vouching for him to look at least semi-decent but he actually pulls off this look!”

“W-what?” Virgil squeaked.

What was happening? What was going on? Roman was complementing him but was also pissed at him. That is a very weird combination of emotions to be had as well as to receive.

“You look cute,” Roman stated plainly and narrowed his eyes “and I hate you because of it.”

“Why?” Virgil was starting to get a bit frustrated because he’s pretty sure all the blood in his body has redirected itself to his face. Also, what the hell was Roman’s deal?

“Because you’re an emo nightmare and you’re not supposed to be cute!” Roman replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Well, excuse me!” Virgil snapped.

“No, you shall not be excused because how dare you!” Roman exclaimed dramatically “How dare you have the audacity to be cute so flawlessly while the rest of us have to work for it every day!”

Virgil groaned, throwing his hands up in frustration, “What is wrong with you?”

“A lot of things really.” The twins said at the same time and if Virgil weren’t so thoroughly frustrated at the moment, he might have thought it was creepy.

“Zip it, Fred and George!” Roman snarked and was responded with two sets of loud raspberries.

Virgil ran a hand through his newly cut hair and sighed deeply, “Look, thank for the haircut, sorry you hate it, I’m gunna leave now.”

He began to make his way towards the living room but Roman was quick to catch his arm, “Wait, we aren’t finished with our essay.”

“It’s good enough,” Virgil snapped, taking his arm back “plus, I don’t very much want to sit here and be insulted for my hair, which by the way you cut.”

“I don’t hate your hair Virgil,” Roman replied with a laugh “I’m saying that you’re cute and that I’m frustrated about it because you put zero effort into it. Meanwhile, yours truly has to moisturize every night, put product in my hair, and still do my make-up to at least look decent for the day!”

Virgil glared at Roman, he had no idea what to make of this boy. One minute he’s insulting him then he’s complementing him, he’s nice then he’s a jerk and the cycle continues. Virgil doesn’t get him or how he functions! Roman was so frustrating and flipped flopped emotions so quick Virgil’s head was dizzy. Contrary to popular beliefs Virgil was just as bad at social cues as Logan was so he had no clue how to tell when Roman was joking or not!

Finally, Virgil said, “That’s stupid!”

“Ooo, you said a bad word!” The twins cried.

“Silence demons!” Virgil snarked and the little monsters straight up hissed at him “Like I was saying, that’s stupid! Why the hell are you even worried about that? I’m not even…I’m not…”

Virgil couldn’t even finish the statement it was so ridiculous. He wasn’t cute damn it! Roman was just being weird and dramatic like always! He just wanted to see Virgil flustered and embarrassed, well, that’s not going to happen! Virgil refused to be made a fool of again!

“You’re cute! Admit it!” Roman smirked, because he’s a stubborn jerk who won’t admit he’s wrong.

“I am not!” Virgil groaned, arms crossed and no, he was not pouting! “You’re just an idiot!”

“You’re basically a tiny kitten,” Roman snickered “at first glance people might mistake you for this great big jungle cat-”

“Because it’s true!” Virgil stomped.

“But really you’re just an adorable little kitty cat.” Roman laughed, easily dodging Virgil’s attempt to punch him. Virgil then proceeded to chase Roman around the apartment while the theatrical teen laughed and continued to dodge his attacks. All the while the twins chanted, “Virgil is a kitty! Virgil is a kitty!”

“I am not!”

---

Overall, Patton was glad Logan and his brother was able to say with them a bit longer, they were pretty great tour guides, Logan especially though maybe Patton was a bit biased. Morgan mainly hung around Georgie and Alex, answering all their questions and helping defuse Alex’s plans on climbing up on one of the dinosaur’s displays. Meanwhile, Logan and Patton were practically left to their own devices, which Patton was perfectly fine with, Logan knew a lot of neat stuff and provided insightful in formation on every exhibit. It would have been perfect if Alex didn’t keep giving him suggestive winks plus and enthusiastic thumbs up though Patton is about 85% sure he saw Morgan do the same thing earlier.

He flushed red at the thought of it, was his crush on Logan really that obvious? Did they see him and Logan holding hands during the planetarium show? Patton was going to let go, he swears, it’s just Logan’s hand felt so nice and warm immensely calming Patton’s nerves when everything suddenly got dark. So, he just kind of left it there, Logan didn’t seem to notice or at least Patton thinks he didn’t. Patton was focusing too hard on watching the show and acting as casual as possible.

It was dark in there so Patton didn’t worry about anyone seeing his flushed face but that was now not the case for the rest of the museum. Thankfully, Logan was too enraptured by all the museum’s exhibits to fully pay attention to Patton’s constantly blushing face. Patton had to repress a dreamy sigh threatening to escape him as he watched Logan ramble on and on about animals from the Cretaceous period, he really did look best when talking about the things he was passionate about.

Okay, so like maybe, this all kind of, sort of looked like a date? If you could count a date involving your two older brothers and your crush is brother babbling in front of them as he and Logan trail behind. It was like a very chaperoned date…in Patton’s head at least. It was silly to think off it like that, he knew, but the whole atmosphere of the evening left Patton feeling all fluttery and excited. Even if it wasn’t just the two of them Patton still felt this sort of intimacy between them and, maybe, the sense that Logan might like him back.

Patton didn’t know how much control he had over these empathetic powers of his, Joan and Talyn had turned them off after that whole experiment thing, saying how they were supposed to grow and come in naturally. But aside from that when he and Logan were holding hands during the planetarium show Patton swore he felt tiny slivers of something warm and familiar. Little sparks of pleasure he knew he felt before every time their hands brush. But he really couldn’t be sure so Patton continued to smile and accidently bump against Logan’s shoulder as they walked through the entire museum and into the gift shop.

As usually the elder brothers left the youngers to their own devices more then likely to stop Alex from flirting with the cashier lady. There were many interesting educational toys and items such as candy rock making kits, puzzles, fossil digging cubes, layered mineral rocks, arrow heads and an assortment of other items. Of course, Patton went straight towards the large bins filled with plushies, with Logan not far behind.

“Why is there a monkey in a space suit?” Patton asked, picking up the soft plush toy from one of the large square bins.

“Before sending human up into space they sent animals,” Logan explained “mainly monkeys and apes since they closely resemble our genealogy.”

There were lots of other plushies in the bin such as dinosaurs, birds, and other animals as well as plants, rocks, ships, and planets with cute little faces on them. Patton grabbed a tiny smiling blue ball with specks of white and brought it up to eye level. “I’m guessing this little guy is Pluto, I’m surprise that he’s even here.”

“Well, some people still consider it a planet,” Logan said in a sort of adorably huffy manner before bashfully shrugging “or maybe it’s left over from previous stock long ago.”

Patton giggled, “And where do you stand on the Pluto debate?”

Logan adjusted his glasses critically, “Calling it a dwarf planet is just saying it’s a planet but smaller then average. It has its own moon as well as the other necessities to be a planet but just because of its size it is diminished to dwarf planet.”

“Wow, you have a lot to say on the matter,” Patton smirked delighted by the endearing flush that painted Logan’s cheeks. He reached to pick up another plushie, this one a robot of sorts, “What’s this?”

“That’s the Opportunity rover,” Logan pipped up quickly “Oppy, as some people have nicked named her, she was sent to scan and observe the surface of Mars. She was accompanied by her twin Sprit but he unfortunately got stuck in a sand trap and has cease function. She was only supposed to function for 90 days but excided that by 14 years and 46 days.” Logan frowned a bit, a glimmer of sadness in his eye before he quickly shook it off, “Soon, after in 2012 they sent the Curiosity rover and as of now it is the only one still active out of the three of them.”

“Aw, does that mean he’s up there all by himself now?” Patton said mournfully, holding the little robotic plushie close to his chest.

“Unfortunately, so,” Logan responded blankly “but even so, we will surely have Curiosity functioning for a number of years more. So, we’ll still have plenty of more time to explore the surface of Mars before we inevitably launch there ourselves.”

“But he’ll still be all alone for years and years,” Patton pouted “that can’t be a pleasant experience even for a robot. Just being all on your own on a seemingly lifeless planet with nobody there to talk to you or comfort you when your sad.”

Logan gave a half smirk, amusement glittering in his eyes, “I’m sure he’ll be fine, he can still communicate back and forth with mission control here on Earth. So, it’s kind of like always having someone on call with a one-way video face time.”

“That is a little better,” Patton hummed thoughtfully “but still, the thought of being completely alone in the vastness of space…kind of freaks me out.”

“Well, thankfully you’re not alone,” Logan said warmly, his smirk now stretching into a shy yet honest smile “you’re here on Earth with very many people who care about you.”

Patton flushed pink but smiled back none the less, “Yeah, I guess so.”

They all finished making their purchases before making their way towards the exit. The crowed had thinned out immensely as evening dwindled into night and what people remained were slowly but surely making their way out. Once again the elders tailed up front talking away while Logan and Patton lingered behind discussing the concept of human awareness and if one day robots will be able to gain this awareness.

“Like, I’m not saying a robot uprising in the sense that they’ll enslave and kill us,” Patton explained, hands gesturing wildly “but something similar to protests and political campaigns that fought for equal rights. If they’re beings of intellect then they’ll know that violence will get them nowhere and hurt their cause more then help it.”

“Wow, you have a lot to say on the matter.” Logan teased.

Patton shrugged shyly, rubbing the back of his neck, “I just…think sci-fi has demonized the why humans will react to other species coming into contact with us. I mean, we aren’t complete monsters and usually the species we’ll ‘supposedly’ interact with aren’t either.”

“Hmm, you do have a point,” Logan nodded “though honestly if they do end up attacking us, I’m pretty sure we deserved it one way or another.”

Patton snorted, “Probably.”

It happened quickly, a buzzing at the back of his head and a burst of color flashing over his eyes. A voice in his head told him to hold down the back of his skirt and side step forward quickly, so that’s just what he did. When Patton turned around to look, he saw a man on his knees with his arm twisted around behind him by a very furious looking Logan.

“Fuck, let go!” The man wheezed out, another man nearby jogged towards them “Jesus, man lay off!”

Logan payed no mind to what they said, only looked to the man on his knees as he seemed to put more pressure on his arm and lowly asked, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I didn’t do nothing!” The man whined, trying and failing to get out of Logan’s solid hold “Get off me you freak!”

“Fuck off dude!” The man’s friend replied, taking half a step forward before freezing under Logan’s glare. “Clearly, he is lying. Because from what I gathered by the precarious position I caught him in was that he was about to pull up my friend’s skirt.”

“I said I didn’t do anything!” The man cried.

“No, but you were going to.” Logan growled, seeming to increase the pressure on the man’s arm.

Patton heard a commotion behind him and turned to find his brothers and Morgan racing back towards them with a security guard hot on their tale. They seemed to be trying to out run the security man and were quick to circle around them as if to block out anymore preying eyes.

“Logan, let him go!” Morgan whispered harshly and, almost reluctantly, Logan complied, the man dropping to the floor clutching his arm. The man’s friend rushed to help him to his feet while Logan still stood by, arms crossed and glaring daggers.

“What the hell is going on?” Georgie demanded.

“That’s what I would like to know.” The security guard pipped up from behind them. Immediately, the man points an accusing finger at Logan, “Officer, this man physically assaulted me!”

“Falsehood!” Logan snapped.

“You were going to pull up my skirt!” Patton shrieked, finally able to find his voice again. He was not going to get Logan in trouble again on his behalf.

“I didn’t fucking do anything, you stupid fag!” The man snapped.

“The fuck did you say!” Alex growled, surging forward to grab the man by the front of his shirt. Had he not Patton was sure Logan and Georgie were close to do so as well.

Patton felt a pit in his stomach, everything was turning into chaos all because of him, again. Why couldn’t he say anything? Why couldn’t he do anything? Why did he have to be such a big baby and cause trouble? How ironic for someone training to be a hero to always get put into situations like this yet isn’t able to save himself. How pathetic.

“Hey, hey, settle!” The security guard commanded, quickly getting in between both men “Now, what I see here is we got two options. One: someone can fess up and give me the real story or two: we can check the security camera, it wouldn’t take too long.”

At the mention of cameras, the two men paled and Logan smirked, the security guard looked tired and seemed to want to be anywhere but here. “If what the young man said was true then you two were the ones committing assault and this other young man here was merely acting in self-defense for his companion.”

“He almost broke my arm!” The main fiend complained.

“I didn’t even do anything!” The other barked, pointing a few feet away “I was standing over there!”

“You were more than likely an accomplice and bared witness to the crime without bothering to interfere,” Morgan quipped, speaking up after his long time silent observation, a calculated look in his eyes “I’ll bet if we look at the camera footage we’ll be able to see you two conspiring together to humiliate my friend like some god damn children before playing rock, paper, scissors or double dog daring one another to go do it. Am I hitting the ball park here? And while I’m at it I’ve been looking through your guys is records and this isn’t your first offence.”

Stepping forward like some sort of professional high security secretary, Morgan pulled up his phone for all to see. There, side by side, were photos of the two men along with their names, contacts, and crimes they’ve been charged for. Patton was pretty sure the two men were nearing the process of passing out their faces were so pale, while Morgan seemed to mimic Logan’s smirk.

“Drunken violence, public indecency, property damage on multiple charges, as well as, surprise, surprise, physical and sexual assault,” Morgan listed off as he continued to scroll through his phone “My, my, you boys have been busy. Now with all of these charges in mind please, pray tell, what were you two thinking when you decided to pull up an under-age boy’s skirt in a high security museum? Or are you that stupid?”

They spat and sputtered but to no avail, not only was one of them caught red handed they had the odds stacked against them. Morgan provided no form of mercy, “Yeah, that’s what I thought, not to worry the police should be here any-” The front entrance was open and four officers came running in “Oh, there they are.”

The men tried in vain to run but the police were able to easily tackle them down while the security guard ushered them all to the side, more then likely waiting to be questioned. Patton felt a bit numb, not really sure if what happened was real or not, there was a lot of energy and emotions in the air and it all gave him a headache. Warm fingers tangled between his and Patton was suddenly brought back to the ground and looking into Logan’s dark eyes.

“Are you okay?” Logan asked, brow frowned in worry.

Patton nodded slowly, “Yeah, thanks.”

“Dude, how were you able to do that? With like the phone and the records and the police and stuff?” Alex exclaimed gesturing to the men being led away in cuffs. Morgan winked mischievously, “Ah, a true computer genius hacker never gives away his secrets…er, phone computer genius hacker? Uh, basically a long story short I did a thing that I will explain to you later because it is, ahem, semi-illegal.”

They all side eyed the security guard who merely shook his head and shrugged. Another officer came by a few minutes later relieving the poor security guard of his duties so as to ask questions. They were all pretty standard: what happened? Why did it happen? Do you want to press charges? Everybody jumped to say yes but honestly Patton didn’t want to deal with anything anymore, he just wanted to go home. Morgan, ever the mystery man genius, said he would willingly handle all the legal stuff so that Patton didn’t have to do anything but sign a few papers, saying how he had a friend who he graduated with who works in the criminal justice system. Usually, Patton didn’t like to bother people and he was trying this whole new thing about fighting for himself but he really, really did not want to deal with complex legal stuff. He also did not want to stress out his family more then they probably already were going to be then he needed too. So, he and his brothers graciously accepted his help.

“You know young man,” The officer said in that adult tone of voice used to scold children “maybe you shouldn’t be wearing a skirt out in public? Would give you an easier time and call much less attention to yourself.”

Okay, so Patton has moved on from tired and pitiful to kind of pissed off, “Excuse me?”

“I’m just saying,” The officer said gently, as if it would make this situation any better “if you were to wear more proper clothes, you’d have less trouble and this situation probably would not have happened.”

He felt Logan’s fingers curl tightly against his, body tensed and ready to jump to Patton’s defense and rescue one more. But Patton was getting really tired of having to be rescued all the time, not that he didn’t appreciated it especially from Logan, but her was getting quite fed up with everything right about now.

“Well, it shouldn’t have happened at all!” Patton said firmly, not really shouting but voice still loud and clear “Regardless of how I dress or how anyone dresses nobody should ever be treated like this! Instead of telling me how I should dress ‘properly’ maybe you should start doing your job and telling people it’s not okay to harass someone just because they’re different or dress a certain way or act a certain way or whatever?”

The officer frowned disapprovingly, like a teacher towards a failing student, but he was no teacher he was an idiot. “Sir, I’m merely suggesting a-”

“I don’t want your suggestions!” Patton snapped “I want to live my life just like everybody else in the world without being bullied or harassed or called names or being shamed just because I’m alive!”

Stunned silence filled the room and Patton just knew that all eyes were on him, surprised and in awe that sweet little Patton would snap at an authority figure. It all would have been quite overwhelming for him if he didn’t have Logan’s fingers intertwined with his and his steady stream of fire and calmness filling his senses. A weird mix of feelings but useful in helping ground Patton and not have him blow up completely. He chanced a quick peek at Logan from the side of his eye and saw a wide and seemingly proud smile stretched across his face.

“I think we’re done here,” Georgie announced, leaving no room for argument “there seems to not be anymore questions you guys need so we’ll just leave.”

“We’ll be in contact, I assure you?” Morgan added as he ushered everyone towards the front exit.

“Our people will call your people.” Alex winked, throwing finger guns at the officer.

They quickly made it to the parking area where they exchanged pleasantries and goodnights before having to part. Georgie and Alex thanked Morgan and Logan immensely for their help, Morgan for handling all the legal stuff and calling the police and Logan for being there to stop the creep. Both Quinn brothers seemed to flush red at the complements and praise, assuring it wasn’t that big of a deal and that they were happy to help. But just before they could part ways Logan thrusted his gift bag towards Patton.

“I, um, thought you might like it,” Logan murmured, avoiding eye contact “I was going to give it to you earlier but, uh, that…happened.”

Patton smiled, happily accepting it before handing over his own gift bag to Logan, “I got you something too.”

“Oh, y-you didn’t – I mean, thank you.” Logan reached for the bag and Patton, once again, did something very bold. He firmly took Logan’s hand, pulled him forward, and gently kissed his cheek.

Patton was quick to pull back, face flushed pink but still smiling, “Thanks for saving me again, you seem to be having to do that a lot.”

Logan was silent for a moment, eyes wide and a careful hand placed over the cheek Patton just kissed. He quickly shook out of his daze, “I-it’s no problem…I’ll always be there if you need me. That is what friends do, correct?”

“Yeah,” Patton giggled “and I’ll be there if you ever need me too, okay?”

Logan nodded vigorously, “Affirmative.”

There was a car honk behind them and Alex is annoying voice yelling across the parking lot, “Come on lover boy, Ma want’s us home soon!”

There was an audible smack and a whiny “ow!” soon thereafter. Patton sighed and smiled apologetically towards Logan before dropping his hand and slowly walking backwards. “I gotta go, see you at school?”

“Uh, yeah, see you.” Logan replied, awkwardly waving his hand.

Patton couldn’t help but giggle and wave back before turning to rush towards the car. Alex booked it out of the parking lot, all the while teasing Patton about his little moment with Logan. But Patton wasn’t really paying attention, instead he was curiously looking inside the bag Logan gave him and found a robotic plushie. At first Patton had assumed it to be Oppy but the design was different so he looked at the tag attached to it and saw that it said Curiosity with a bit of scribbled handwriting at the bottom.

Surely, he will not feel as lonely now that he’s with you. -L.Q.

Patton bit down on his lip to hold back a squeal threatening to burst out of him as he hugged the little robot close to his heart.

---

Virgil left an hour before his mother and sister were due home and the twins whined the whole while not wanting him to leave. They had both latched on to Virgil’s legs and it took Roman an embarrassingly long time to pry them off, with Virgil teasing him the whole time. He left soon after and Roman sat the twins down and scolded them for their behavior, such actions might have been fine with Patton but Virgil was different, especially when it came to physical touch. Although, it didn’t seem like he had minded Roman told the twins if ever he came back that they should ask before engaging in any physical contact.

They seemed to understand well enough and that was all Roman needed before he was ushering them to take a shower and change for bed. Obviously, it didn’t go that easy without a bit of fighting so by the time his mother and sister got back home the twins were freshly bathed, wrestled into their pajamas, and Roman was currently combing his Jenni’s hair while Marco played with his cars.

“Como te fue? ¿Se comportaron los niños?” His mother asked, peeking into the room with Leslie right behind her. They looked tired, hair a mess and dark circles around their eyes.

“It went fine,” Roman replied, finishing Jenni’s hair and tying it off in a simple braid “the twins were fine and we were able to finish everything.”

“Aye, que bien.” She replied.

“Roman’s got a boyfriend!” Jenni announced loudly “And he’s totally a secret witch even though he says he isn’t! But I know!”

Roman squeaked as he pulled his little sister to his chest and clapped a hand over her mouth, “You shush! Time for bed!”

“¡Romano tiene novio! ¡Romano tiene novio!” Marco chanted as he began to jump up and down on his bed.

“Shut it, you little demon!” Roman growled, face aflame.

“Marco no jumping on the bed,” Leslie scolded before a sly smirk crossed her face “and Roman, why didn’t you tell us it was your boyfriend coming over? We could of sent the twins off to their friends how so you two could have some alone time.”

“It’s not like that at all!” Roman shrieked “W-we’re just friend who made a club together, that’s all!”

“Ay, pero Romano, ¿por qué no lo invitaste a cenar para que podemos conocerlo adecuadamente? Quiero asegurarme de que va a ser bueno para mi pequeño príncipe.” His mother giggled along with the rest of his family and Roman really wished the floor would open up and swallow him whole.

---

Thomas on a roof of a shop near a familiar alley way in full Rainbow Weaver gear. He had just finished making a full sweep around the city an hour ago and decided to take a quick brake before doing another one. He quietly observed the familiar little café across the street and the familiar red head wiping down the tables one last time.

Thomas had stayed to talk to MJ a while more before an influx of customers suddenly made there way in for a late after work coffee run. MJ now suddenly had plenty of work to do and Thomas suddenly remembered that he had a city to be patrolling. They reluctantly parted ways, Thomas sputtering like a fool while MJ was as charming and as cool as ever. He was lucky that he packed a bag with him and stuck his Rainbow Weaver gear onto a nearby building or else he’d have to be fumbling back home and explain to Joan and Talyn why he hadn’t been patrolling the city for two whole hours. He wasn’t ready for the teasing sure to come when they eventually find out that he had been distracted by a cute boy who worked in a coffee shop and that he saves twice a week.

Speaking of, said cute boy was walking out of the coffee shop now, smiling down at his phone as he typed away at something or another. Thomas suddenly felt his own phone vibrate in his pocket and he was quick to pull it out and see a new texts message.

MJ<3: i think i’ll take a different route home today ;-)

Thomas looked back up to watch and sure enough instead of crossing the street MJ turned right towards a much safer part of town. Thomas couldn’t help feel a bit bummed out that he wouldn’t be able to have another possible interaction with MJ again tonight but he was much more happy that MJ took his advice to a safer path home.

Thomas: Good choice! Get home safely :)

MJ<3: Sure thing tiger! <3

---

Virgil had stomped all the way home grumbling to himself. Stupid Roman and his demon siblings kept teasing him the whole time he was there, though admittingly it was kind of fun. Especially since the twins were always willing to turn head on their older brother real fast. They eventually finished the essay and just kind of spent the whole evening bickering and answering Jenni’s curious questions about witches until Virgil had to go back home. He was surprised when they both latched on to his legs and begged him not to leave but soon became amused as he watched Roman struggle to pull them off.

Despite Roman’s entire personality in general he was a good brother and a good person at heart. He just tends to rub people the wrong way (mainly Virgil) sometimes, he was loud and brash, and spoke before he thought. But he wasn’t out right awful, nor was he terrible to be around just very, very annoying. Virgil still didn’t know what to make of Roman and their weird teasing back and forth but he could for sure say that it was…good. For now, at least.

His parents questioned him about the hair cut as soon as he got home and he truthfully told them what happened, not wanting to lie to them if he didn’t have to. They really didn’t mind and actually liked the hair but told him that he really should call them next time and ask for permission before letting his friend cut his hair.

He quickly promised and tiredly slipped in to his room where he was greeted by an excited JD, as always. After feeding and placing fresh water in his tank Virgil kicked off his shoes and proceeded to flop into bed, fully prepared to just sleep. Then his phone pinged!

Idiot: u will now be happy to know that I have now changed ur contact name to Nyan Cat!

Nyan Cat: fuck you!

Idiot: mmh not now maybe later ;-P

Virgil cheeks flushed red, growling as he began to furiously type back a reply. He took back every nice thing he said about the moron, he was the worst!

---

Morgan and Logan of course had to inform their parents about the situation that happened on their evening out. They weren’t freaking out as much as the late time Logan got in trouble but they were still worried none the less. They scolded Logan for his rush into violence but also commended him for protecting his friend from danger. For some reason Morgan did not mention to them about his part in the whole fiasco but instead gave them a vague summery of what went down. He was kind of glad for that, not that Morgan didn’t deserve credit, because he really did work wonders today, but Logan did not want to go another round of compare and contrast between him and his brother.

Logan sluggishly made his way into his room, completely drained from the whole outing. From the walking to the socializing and large crowed of the museum Logan was both physically and mentally drained. But as he looked down at the gift bag still in his hand and the warmth that blossomed in his chest, he couldn’t help but think it wasn’t too bad. A few minor complications but overall the part before the incident and after were pretty great. His cheeks were warm as he ran a finger over the spot where Patton had kissed him and he couldn’t help but let out a dreamy sigh.

Curiosity finally got the better of him and Logan quickly reached into the bag and pulled out a familiar soft round ball, pale blue with white specks and a cute smiling face. He smiled to himself before noticing the neat loopy hand writing on the end of the tag.

Viva la Pluto! <3

Logan was sure that he had a big goofy smile spread across his face by now and was so glad that he was alone in his room. Though he was soon snapped out of his warm and fuzzy day dream by the ping and vibration of his phone. He quickly fished it out of his pocket honestly expecting it to Virgil ready to complain about the god-awful time he had over at Roman’s place but was pleasantly surprised to find that it was Patton.

Patton: the moon is smiling tonight! :)

Logan peeked out his window and sure enough was in its waxing crescent formation which edged near the bottom, looking like a giant smile in the night sky. Logan chuckled softly to himself as he quickly typed out a reply.

Lolo: So, it is.

Tags: (sorry if it doesn’t work, Tumblr is stupid)

@immortaldystopia @metaphoricalpluto2 @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @misunderstood-shadow @fairytailtwists @0callmevirge0 @blenderkit17 @galaxy-lilies-main @lumi-1 @paint-in-flames @i-have-n0-idea-what-im-d0ing @superwholocked-for-life @generalfandomfabulousness @oakskull@scarletnoiryt @softnic @asiagotea3890 @enteryourfandomhere @saltwithrandomfandoms @ninjago2020 @average-human @hecksupremeart @teepee-honesty @perfectly-precautiously-gay @a-weirdo-with-a-computer@itsashtronomy @khadij-al-kubra @maryjanewolf @icequeenoriginal @ocs-and-chapters @lilyfond @palepanfandomtrash @always-in-a-fandom @boxofsushi @hellomusicalnerdhere

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #logicality #prinxiety #spiderverse au #spiderverse #tw assualt #tw harassment #tw homophobic slur #tw homophobia #tobashiarg!

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inactiive-shit · 5 years

Text

Hey, this a vent because I’m having emotions right now. It’s in story format though because I don’t know what else to do. You’re probably better off not reading this, I just needed it out there so I could think more clearly. Sorry.

Warnings: sort of homophobia?, anxiety, uncertainty

Words: 848

Summary: Virgil’s scared to come out. But that’s kind of ridiculous. . .isn’t it?

Here is my pain:

Mama, I’m gay. Virgil glanced at the woman in question only for a brief moment before looking away. He had hyped himself up over this for days. And yet. . he was scared - he had no right to be scared. This was such a stupid thing to be anxious over. It was ridiculous, really. Because his mom had no issue with queer people. Because his mom would never kick him out. Because she loved him and he knew that she always would, no matter how weird he got. He knew that. He knew she loved him. He knew.

But. But she had said that being gay was a mental illness. She had said it was unnatural. She had said those things, and she had denounced asexuality. Virgil wasn’t asexual, but it didn’t really matter. How easily could those views be cast upon him? How easily could those same condemnations switch to his sexuality?

It didn’t matter, though. Because she loved him. And her kids always came first to her. And she had said she didn’t think gay people needed to be fixed or go to therapy because being gay wasn’t inhibiting their lives. She had said she tended to like gay people more than straight people, anyway. She had no problem with queer people.

So, Virgil had nothing to be worried about. She wouldn’t be weird about it. God, she probably already knew. She made enough comments with implications that Virgil obsessively over-thought because what she said made it sound like she knew, or at least like she suspected, and definitely like she was fine with it. With him.

Obviously. She loved him. She wouldn’t disown him for something as inconsequential as his sexuality. He couldn’t control it, and really, she wasn’t homophobic. She hadn’t disowned him for his mental disorders. She hadn’t disowned him for the way he couldn’t talk to people well. She hadn’t disowned him for his panic attacks. She hadn’t disowned him for getting into witchcraft or ouija boards or tarot cards or (briefly) satanism. She hadn’t disowned him for the music he liked that she hated. She hadn’t disowned him for the way he dressed that she never would have normally considered. She had never disowned him for anything, and she never would.

But he couldn’t forget what she’d said when he’d broached the topic with her before. Unnatural. It was a brand across his soul. And that was stupid. Because she hadn’t said that to him or about him. She hadn’t even known he was queer when she said it. She probably didn’t even remember she had. She probably had no idea that even the thought of her knowing this fact about him, that he liked girls, but also boys, and also people who were both or neither or something else altogether, made him have panic attacks because of one stupid, flippant comment.

It was so stupid. If he could just say the words, he’d see. Virgil knew if he just told her, ripped the band-aid off, he would see that she really did love him unconditionally. It was no matter what. If she knew her own son was queer (pansexual, Virgil’s mind supplied, the word that had resonated so soundly with him, but which still didn’t feel real), maybe her views would change.

He wanted to tell her so badly. The words were banging against the backs of his teeth. He didn’t keep big secrets from his mom, not like this. He needed to talk about these things with someone to really process them, but more than that, he wanted his mom to know who he was.

And, yeah, maybe he did want - need - to hear her say that she still loved him and that he was okay and that he didn’t need to change. Maybe that was the most important thing here, that validation that he could be queer. Maybe he wanted to hear that he was still worthy of unconditional love, even if he wasn’t like his siblings. Maybe he wanted to cry a little bit because he wasn’t straight, he wasn’t the default, and it was so stressful but at least he knew that his mom would be there for him no matter what. Maybe he wanted the comfort of being known and accepted.

But everytime he thought about, his heart started abusing his chest and his lungs compressed until there wasn’t enough space for any air left in them and he shook and he was scared. He was so scared of something so stupid, something he knew wouldn’t happen.

But what if?

Virgil quietly had his panic attack while sitting on the couch next to his mom, and when he was done, words beating against the backs of his teeth for escape and stomach a hollow pit over what needed to be done, Virgil got up and got a snack. So he wouldn’t do it today. He wouldn’t do it now. He would just have to do it later. He could wrangle this fear first. It was manageable. It was fine.

He would just tell her another day.

#virgil sanders #rant #vent #i am just having a time #ts fanfic #ts fanfiction

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judd051 · 5 years

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Response to olywitchcrew / the witchofthenorthtrilogy post re: LGBT concerns and Gardnerian Craft

27 April 2019

This is in response to a long post on this subject currently found at @thewitchofthenorthtrilogy I understand that she has had a serious problem with complaints being lodged about this. For the record, I have had nothing to do with that. I am always for open discussion of ideas.

I want to thank GG Irkalla for taking these issues seriously enough to give us a thoughtful commentary on Gardner, Gardnerian Wicca, and the LGBTQ+ community. I hope to address many of her statements, explain why they are based in misunderstandings of the Gerald Gardner, the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, and the Gardnerian Tradition as a whole, and reassure those possibly interested in Gardnerian Wicca that there is plenty of room for many possible interpretations of this living Pagan Tradition. Many of the problems with the way Irkalla presented her information are not unique to her, but are widely shared by those attempting to investigate traditions possessing “secret knowledge”. I hope to address these problems of interpretation along the way.

I am a Gardnerian priest with a coven and, after more than 30 years, more initiates than I can count. I am also a white, cisgender, heterosexual male and I recognize that certain blinders come along with that and that I undoubtedly benefit from privilege as a result. I hope that any such blinders and privilege have not gone unexamined. That being said, my initiates include those who self-identify as Straight, Gay, Lesbian, Bi, and too fluid to fit in those categories. All of us have found Gardnerian Wicca to be our most comfortable home in the broader context of Neopagan Witchcraft.

One of the problems in responding to Irkalla’s commentary is that Gardnerian Wicca is an initiatory Mystery tradition, with secret / oathbound material that cannot be shared with non-initiates. This is not unusual among the initiatory Pagan traditions, from classical antiquity to today’s Feri, NROOGD, Reclaiming (Yes, there is – or was – as secret Reclaiming initiation.), and Alexandrian traditions, and more.

Unless you are initiates, there is no way that you could have “immersed yourself” in the “Gardnerian Book of Shadows”; only in one of the many rip-off copies out there. The many inaccuracies in the “quotes” – as well as texts that aren’t in the BoS at all – make it clear that she did not have access to an actual Gardnerian BoS. Irkalla – and everyone else – can rest assured that any Book of Shadows texts they find online or in published books purporting to be the “Gardnerian Book of Shadows” are unlikely to be genuine or accurate, but – as stated above – I am hampered by what I can and cannot quote from an accurate or “real” Book of Shadows in response. For this reason, I won’t get into a point-by-point refutation of the “quotes” from the “Gardnerian Book of Shadows” brought up by Irkalla. However, I do want to make three general observations about her use of such texts.

Irkalla tries to tar the Gardnerian Tradition with a problem that is a problem for almost all modern Paganism – Wicca, Neopagan, Reconstructionist, Polytheist, and Traditional. Show me a tradition with inherited texts that does not have to deal with sexism, gender essentialism, heterosexism, and more in those texts. The older the texts, the worse the problem. This was one of the reasons that we called this movement “Neopaganism” to begin with – because we recognized the need for reinterpretation, not just revival.

Irkalla focuses on the texts in isolation while being completely unaware of the decades of textual analysis, exegesis, discussion, and reinterpretation of those texts that has gone on within the Gardnerian Tradition, as well as examination of how earlier versions of the Gardnerian texts changed over time before becoming the current Book of Shadows. We have been around for over a century (with roots possibly much older than that) and have members in almost every English-speaking country on Earth. Consequently, the internal discussion of the issues you brought up (and more, obviously) has been going on around the world and for a very long time; you’re just not privy to it. But not being privy to the internal discussion of another Tradition is no reason to assume that it doesn’t exist, especially to the extent of publicly attacking that Tradition based on such an assumption. Why not ask politely, and we could have a reasonable discussion of these issues.

Irkalla is getting erroneous material without context or commentary and assuming that it defines a tradition. All Gardnerians agree that there are texts in the Book of Shadows that we wish weren’t there, but would be loathe to change the text, since it is an historical document; consequently this is addressed through the addition of footnotes or commentaries. Passing on the BoS as it was received, with only additions being permitted, is a magical way of maintaining a link with our past – with those who have gone before – even while recognizing that some of that past should not be repeated. In this way, the BoS is an ever-growing compilation of our history. It is not scripture or binding Law. It is accumulated wisdom, and some of that “wisdom” is out of date and wasn’t that wise to begin with. The Book of Shadows is kept and maintained by the Tradition even as the Tradition grows and adapts to changing times. We aren’t going to tear out pages, no matter how offensive; rather we are going to incorporate new learning and new wisdom that addresses, explains, revises, and sometimes refutes what went before. It’s important to point out here that many texts are passed along as part of our history, while ignored in practice. For example, if we followed the Craft Law to the letter, the secrecy laws would be so strict that almost none of us would even know that the others exist! Times change and our understanding changes, but the texts – as historical documents – do not. This is one of the serious problems with relying on published, rip-off Books… you get (altered) historical texts without the notes or commentary, so you have no idea how the actual texts are being understood and applied in the Tradition by living practitioners.

Regarding the man and the Tradition, Irkalla’s remarks suffer from conflating two things – Gerald Gardner and what came to be called the Gardnerian tradition. Gardner was indeed a creature of his time and social setting and did indeed express ideas to those around him that we would now call homophobic. However, no one in the Gardnerian tradition considers Gardner to be a prophet or any kind of religious authority. None of us look to him for spiritual insight. (This has been abundantly clear during community Book of Shadows discussion groups.) He was a recorder of a tradition he inherited and passed on. The fact that he expressed views that we would find odious is separate from the fact that he was in the right place and time, and with the amateur academic inclination, to make sure that certain religious material survived rather than died out. Most of us know many people with admirable personal qualities who are simply wrong on other issues; many of us sit down at table with them every Thanksgiving.

Ronald Hutton, widely considered the leading academic authority on Craft, agrees that there was an earlier group that Gardner joined. That being the case, we should then ask what “Gardnerian” textual material Gardner might have written and what he merely passed on. I am solidly in the camp that believes – based on a long and detailed study of the source documents – that Gardner wrote virtually none of it and accurately passed on virtually all of it from an earlier source. (Fortunately, Gardner is not our only source for “Gardnerian” Craft. Material was passed down by people from the same coven Gardner joined in an independent line of transmission. This provides independent corroboration for material that predates Gardner.) So it is important to separate Gardner and the texts. You cannot interpret the texts based on what you believe about Gardner; nor can you attribute beliefs to Gardner based on what you thinks you find in the texts. Gardner’s authorship of the BoS texts is a claim that has not been proven; you cannot proceed on the assumption that it has.

Irkalla may be surprised that I agree that homophobia & queerphobia are widespread in the Gardnerian tradition, however I think that the presence of such views is not essential to the tradition and that there are many of us fighting these views by going back to the texts and the early history of the Tradition. There is what is called a “revitalization movement” underway in Gardnerian Wicca, and like all such movements it is a progressive one that hearkens back to the roots of a Tradition to address the ubiquitous problems of creeping conservatism and centralization of authority that afflict so many religious groups over time.

Irkalla wrote…

<< In particular we talked about the heterosexual focus and gender polarity of god/goddess (which is actually Duotheistic, not polytheistic, ) and how that can be alienating. >>

I have no doubt that these can be alienating and I sympathize with those who may have been put off, but it’s important to understand that these concepts are not essential to the Tradition. Yes, the Tradition has a Goddess & a God, but contrary to popular belief, these are not the New Agey “all Goddesses are THE Goddess” kind of archetypes. They are not somehow inclusive of everybody else’s deities. The Goddess & God of the Gardnerian tradition have names and discrete identities, just as the Goddesses and Gods of the Polytheist groups do. Gardner wrote about the Witches of his acquaintance…

“To them the concept of an All-Powerful God, one who could simply say, "Let there be peace. Let there be no sickness or misery", and all wars, sickness and misery would cease, and who for his own reasons will not say that word, and keeps men in fear and misery and want, is not fit to receive worship. They quite realise that there must be some great "Prime Mover", some Supreme Deity; but they think that if It gives them no means of knowing It, it is because It does not want to be known; also, possibly, at our present stage of evolution we are incapable of understanding It. So It has appointed what might be called various Under-Gods, who manifest as the tribal gods of different peoples; as the Elohim of the Jews, for instance, who made them in Their own image ("Elohim" being a plural noun), "male and female made They them"; Isis, Osiris and Horus of the Egyptians; the "portmanteau-word" of certain initiates, "Maben", which is MA, AB, BEN, or "Mother, Father and Son"; and the Horned God and the Goddess of the witches. They can see no reason why each people should not worship their national gods, or why anyone should strive to prevent them from doing so.” (The Meaning of Witchcraft, pp 26-27)

So, yes, the Wicca do believe in an underlying metaphysical non-theistic unity – just as most polytheistic cultures around the world and throughout time do and have also done – but also in individual deities at the level of our traditional practice and interaction. Recognizing the existence of the One in no way diminishes the depth or quality of my encounters with a particular Goddess or God. A monistic view of the Divine also allows us to comfortably engage in relationships with other Goddesses & Gods, but that should not be misunderstood as thinking that the Goddess & God of Gardnerian Wicca are somehow seen as summaries of all the other deities. The famous dictum of Dion Fortune – “All gods are one God and all goddesses are one Goddess, and there is one Initiator” – keeps getting projected onto Wicca, but Fortune was not a Gardnerian and these are not our views.

Also, and contrary to popular opinion, there is nothing in the Gardnerian corpus that says that the Goddess & God are a heterosexual couple! Yes, they have sex at least once in a particular informing myth, but once does not a relationship (or an orientation) make. The histories of these deities and the stories told about them include encounters of a significant variety. So, yes, if you want to find an example of a heterosexual encounter, you can, but if you want to find more than that, you can find that, too.

The problems come in when folks who are themselves focused on a magical polarity that they can only understand in terms of gender polarity then project this limited view onto the Gods. The sad fact is that for much of the modern history of Gardnerian Craft it has been practiced by conventional, heterosexual couples who could all too easily project their own sexuality onto their Goddess & God. As times change and a younger, more progressive element enters the tradition, interpretations inevitably change with them. There have been LGBTQ+ initiates comfortably practicing in the Gardnerian Tradition for decades, at least so they assert to me.

<< Some will claim that modern wiccans venerating a homophobic priest, living by his rules, and defending him dogmatically doesnt have any effect on how they treat LGBTQ+ people. that would be the most obvious possible case of a logical fallacy. >>

I don’t know any Gardnerians who “venerate” Gardner; we just acknowledge that we wouldn’t be here without what he did. (One could easily argue that none of modern Craft would be here – in its current form – without what he did.) Gratitude for a particular set of actions is not blanket approval of the man or all of his life. Gardner is not Muhammed (PBUH) and we do not look to his life for any sort of Hadith on how to live ours.

We don’t “live by his rules”. First, the “rules” aren’t his. Second, the “rules” (if Irkalla mean the Craft Laws) are an historical document situated (truly or not) in a time when Witches were an underground, persecuted secret society, and so many of them are not that useful today. They are ignored or re-interpreted all the time. Third, the “rules” address coven administration and group practice, not our lives.

Since I don’t “venerate a homophobic priest” or “live by his rules or “defend him dogmatically”, I think it’s fair to say that he does not “have any effect on how [I] treat LGBTQ+ people”. However, I am open to being shown otherwise.

(BTW, if you treasure your "Book of Shadows" or celebrate 8 Sabbats, then you should acknowledge the influence of the Gardnerians in your practice. I doubt that most of us – Gardnerian or not – are going to stop keeping a BoS or celebrating the Sabbats just because of their connection with a homophobic historical figure. If it makes you feel better, Gardner’s coven came up with the cycle of 8 Sabbats - instead of 4 - against his suggestions.)

Throughout Irkalla’s observations she conflates three things: what Gardner inherited, what Gardner believed, and what Gardnerians believe. She apparently read an inaccurate rip-off the Gardnerian BoS as if it were a Bible of sacred text, and in so doing demonstrated that she does not understand any of it.

<< In conclusion… If you see issues with Gardner, but you think the core of Gardnerian Wicca is basically good, and you want to build a tradition out of that which is LGBTQ+ inclusive, I can respect that. If you are a Gardnerian witch and see how he was a problematic figure, but due to investing your whole life in GW you feel you need to change it from the inside rather then leaving it entirely, I can respect that. >>

I’m glad, because that’s where I’m at, although my desire to be part of the change that has already been going on for many decades is not just because I’ve “invested my whole life”, rather I’ve invested my whole life because I find so much of value in the Gardnerian tradition to work with. And from what others tell me, I am not alone in this.

<< But…this man was homophobic. There is no way that that homophobia and heavy focus on male/female polarity and heteronormativity did not in some form bias the rituals and affect the way they were put together. >>

Since as far as I can tell, Gardner created or composed almost none of the Book of Shadows, it’s more of a question of the extent to which a homophobic, heteronormative approach informed virtually all of the magical / esoteric traditions of the past several centuries. This is something with which all of us in those esoteric traditions over a hundred years old have to grapple. Fortunately, we are seeing the self-critical eye being turned inward in almost all of these traditions. The Gardnerian tradition is having a tough time because 1) the internet has made inaccurate versions of homophobic texts from the Gardnerian Book of Shadows widely available without the decades of intra-traditional commentary and re-examination that brings these texts into the 21st century (or abandons them), and 2) as an oathbound Mystery tradition, we can’t just make all of that material available to everyone to clear things up.

<< If you insist on believing, in spite of the evidence, that Gardnerian Wicca is flawless and perfect and that the man made no mistakes, you are not an LGBTQ+ ally. >>

Anyone who would believe such a thing would not only not be an LGBTQ+ ally, such a person would be a deluded, insane moron. No tradition is flawless. No tradition is perfect. No person is without mistakes. And make no mistake, among Gardnerians, Gardner is just a man, nothing more.

<< Admittedly they [Spare & Crowley] were problematic figures too, but I don’t worship anyone as a hero, I look at what is good and what is bad and I do my best to salvage the past to build something healthy today. >>

Hear, hear! I completely agree. Unless Irkalla demands a double standard for herself and for Gardnerians then she has succinctly answered all of her own criticisms that have any validity to them.

<< What Wiccans hold on to so desperately is the idea of a whole, intact, complete witch tradition, but the reality is that there is no such thing. Its all ripped up bits and scraps and a collage of what is left, and accepting that is the only logical starting point, in my perspective. >>

Gardnerian Wiccans, as a tradition, do not hold onto any such thing. We are well aware that there have been gaps in transmission, requiring reconstruction, but those gaps are far fewer and far smaller than many suppose. And we are aware that any tradition of any age requires reinterpretation to move successfully into the 21st century. What Irkalla appears not to be aware of – because she has no access to it – is that such reinterpretation is already going on. She should give people the benefit of the doubt, ask questions, and learn more before launching a broadside at a Tradition. As with most Neopagan traditions, we do not proselytize, but if your true goal is to learn more, there are folks available who can answer your questions. Learning begins with dialogue. We always want to live in peace with all our siblings and colleagues in the Craft. Peace begins with speaking truthfully about others, to the best of our ability. I look forward to continued, informed conversations.

Blessed Be,

Judd051

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