It sounds like a structural problem! If this doesn’t help, feel free to shoot me another message!
John
took a sip of his eggnog, desperately wishing his mum hadn’t suddenly decided
to pour all the brandy down the drain last night. She probably wanted to
prevent another drunken brawl, though wasn’t that just another family tradition
at this point? He sighed heavily. At least a smidge of brandy would have dulled
the pain of listening to the giant row Da and Harry were still having. Apparently, he didn’t appreciate
her fashion sense.
Of
course, deciding to wear her ‘Dyke the Halls’ sweater to Christmas Eve service
probably wasn’t her most politic decision.
John walked outside, letting the door fall shut behind him. It
was cold and clear as he walked down to the pavement, far enough away that at
least he couldn’t hear the exact words anymore. He missed Sherlock and the coziness
of their flat keenly. Despite having a flatmate who might blow things up at any
moment, John still felt safer there. It had been years since Da had tried to
land a blow on any of them, but he was still a sight when he was mad and it
brought back too may uncomfortable memories in this house.
He wondered how Sherlock was faring. Mrs. Hudson had left some
of Sherlock’s favorite biscuits on a plate by his microscope, but John realized
he hadn’t left anything. Maybe they’d do a little something when he got home.
Not that Sherlock celebrated. Was Sherlock even home, or had Mycroft convinced
him to come to the country cottage after all? In all likelihood he was puttering
around Baker Street alone.
John smiled, as he recalled a dream from the night before. Sherlock
had been analyzing Christmas decor like Jack Skellington in Nightmare Before
Christmas. The more he imagined Sherlock bent over his microscope looking at
holly sprigs and running experiments on powdered ornament glass, the more
tickled he got, until he was giggling like loon. God, he missed that
madman.
The door slammed behind him
and Harry grabbed his glass and drained it. “Damn. You out here sounding mad
as a hatter I thought you’d found a nip of something.”
“No such luck. Mum.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Has Da simmered down yet?”
“Nope. I’m still queer.”
John snorted a strangled sort
of chuckle without much mirth. If his increasingly frequent thoughts about
Sherlock these past weeks meant anything, he might be too. He still liked
women. Always had. But something niggling in the back of his mind told him it
wasn’t <i>just</i> women.
It wasn’t often that a bloke caught his attention, but it had been easy to
ignore before. But now? He had stopped dating months ago. Unfortunately,
Sherlock didn’t feel things that way. Maybe at all, maybe just about him. He
took a deep breath and said, “Me, too.”
Harry looked up, eyes wide
for a second before they narrowed again. “I knew it! You’re shagging him aren’t
you.”
John blushed and muttered, “In
my dreams” before he could stop himself.
He figured she’d be angry,
with her taking the brunt of the fighting ever since their parents had caught
her having more than a sleepover with Sally Jane when they were 16. Instead she
just fixed him with a look which softened into such sympathy he nearly teared
up as she laid a hand on his arm and said, “Oh, John. Does he know?”
“I figure he must. He’s
Sherlock. But then, maybe not. Emotions aren’t really his area.”
“You should tell him. Clara
dated that bloke from chem class and I thought she’d never like me. We wasted a
year dancing around each other because she thought I was one of those lesbians
that wouldn’t go with a girl who liked guys too and I,” she laughed in self deprecation,
“I forgot both was an option so I didn’t ask her out after they broke up. Then
she snogged a girl at my end of term party and that was that. You never know if
you don’t ask.”
John sighed. Maybe she was
right. There was that first night, but they barely knew each other then and
John hadn’t been trying to hit on him. Not consciously. Anyway, that was a long
time ago.
“Don’t bollocks it up like I
did. One of us should get to be happy.”
Harry rarely admitted fault
for their break up, but it was definitely her drinking that pushed a wedge
between them. She and Clara had been so happy until Harry lost her job and
befriended the bottle again. They tried getting help, but Harry had to lose the
one thing she loved before she was willing to crawl out again.
John squeezed her hand. “I’m
not sure happy is a Watson trait.”
She shook her head. “Maybe
not, but you deserve it.“
As a reader, as a writer, and as a fan I can’t think of a single website that has given me more happiness than Archive of Our Own. Thank you so much to everyone who works so hard to make it such a wonderful place.
is it time for frank cho and milo manara to die or what
That’s basically a naked woman I’m YELLING
What a pervert. What the FUCK does he not know how clothes work? What the hypothetical fuck is she wearing then if we can see all that?
It’s like how bath towels in comics miraculously wrap completely around breasts. Or how even when injured and dead on the ground women in comics have to be twisted into “sexy” poses. Or how women in comics walk like they’re in high heels even barefoot.
It’s the only way men know how to draw women, because to them female characters are only there to be sexy. They only think of “women” as exploitative costumes and camera angles, high heels and titillation. Sex objects to ogle, plot objects to further male heroes’ narratives and drama, not heroes to cheer for.
I’m sorry, I was labouring under the impression that this was the crowd that thought women should wear what they want..?
And that applies to fictional women who are depicted by men how? You can’t apply agency in the plot to something metatextual when it comes to fictional characters.
Come on, let’s not pretend this is a male exclusive thing.
We’re going to have this argument are we? Not to mention you’re deviating from the original point that attributing agency to fictional characters’ clothing is asinine.
What you have here are images of power, and do you really believe these characters are designed with titillating heterosexual women and bisexual and homosexual men in mind? Because I don’t think you do.
This is why the Hawkeye Initiative exists. Take common female poses in comics, put a man in the role, and see how “empowering” and “strong” it actually looks:
Also:
He got the painting for fighting against ‘censorship.’ Note that they handed him a gross design of a female being objectified, because at the end of the day, that is all they really want, to be allowed to objectify women. They don’t care about censorship in general it is about their ability to sexualise and degrade women without consequence.
You can see her butthole for chrissakes
I think the best imagery I’ve seen to explain the difference between what men think male objectification is vs what women actually want to see is the Hugh Jackman magazine covers.
Hugh Jackman on a men’s magazine. He’s shirtless and buff and angry. He’s imposing and aggressive. This is a male power fantasy, it’s what men want to be and aspire to – intense masculinity.
Hugh Jackman on a women’s magazine. He looks like a dad. He looks like he’s going to bake me a quiche and sit and watch Game of Thrones with me. He looks like he gives really good hugs.
Men think women want big hulking naked men in loin cloths which is why they always quote He-Man as male objectification – without realizing that He Man is naked and buff in a loin cloth because MEN WANT HIM TO BE. More women would be happy to see him in a pink apron cutting vegetables and singing off-key to 70s rock.
Men want objects. Women want PEOPLE.
This is the first time I have EVER seen this false equivalence articulated so well. Thank you.
Queer Looks is a celebration a selection of iconic aesthetics and symbols used by queer folks in the west from the last 150 years. We have printers lined up and rearing to go, so all we have to do now is raise the money to pay our artists, manufacture the two hard enamel pins, and print the gorgeous 12-piece illustration zine!
Queer people have been sending messages to each other through clothes and accessories for ages, and we’ve always had ways to find each other in a crowd. In the Queer Looks zine, you’ll find the carnation codes of the 1890s, the queer blues divas of the 1920s and 30s, and even the denim and pins of the present day. All these–and more!–are gorgeously illustrated by our crew of Dates veterans:
Check out the Kickstarter page to find out more information…and to pledge! Even if you aren’t able to back the campaign, a reblog or share can make a huge difference.
Let’s make a zine!
Guess what? We HIT GOAL LAST NIGHT (then raised a couple hundred dollars more)! On to the stretch goals–just over $300 to go before we unlock that third pin!
Hey ho, I’m in this and it’s already funded?? Wow!!
It is our duty as feminists to protect and respect women in Hijabs
Now. More. Than. Ever.
Question: if I see someone pull off a Hijab, what should I do? I know there are reasons they are worn so I want to if i should stand in between them and who did this, should i protect them from view somehow, or something else? This has been happening a lot so I feel it’s something everyone needs to know.
Good question! I cannot correctly and effectively answer, as I am a white, non-Muslim person; however, I will reblog in case any of my followers can answer.
I asked my Hijabi friend, so here’s one Hijabi’s answer:
“my opinion is, definitely try cover them or give them something to cover themselves with. And perhaps shoo off the person, without putting oneself in danger! God forbid, if that happened to me, I would like someone to come and comfort me and give me something to cover my hair with and then help me report it to the cops
“
(Followers, if any of you are hijabi and would like to expand on this answer or offer alternatives, please do.)
If u see it happen to 1 of us, pls cover our head + hair with a coat or shawl or any piece of cloth, while hugging us in comfort. Please don’t get hurt by lashing out @ the perpetrators in any way, coz if they dare to do that, they’re probably too far gone in their own hatred to listen to any reason. Much love + Thank You to anyone who supports us.
yes !! everything said here is important af. if you see someone pull off a girl’s hijab immediately cover her hair and provide comfort. don’t talk to the perpetrator but try to get the woman out of there if you can. maybe if you have a scarf on you at the time give it to her so she can wear it until she’s alone and can replace her hijab. please please protect muslim girls because we already had it hard before donald trump became president and now its gonna be worse with people going around thinking their violence and cruelty is justified
for my other white ppl who might have a hard time, it’s my understanding that a hijab is like a major item of clothing, not an accessory like a hat or a scarf. so think abt it more like if someone just ripped someone’s shirt or skirt off. u don’t want to be left there exposed or have to walk home without it.
everyone, even outside America needs to protect our Muslim sisters in these times.
as a man, what would be the best thing to do? should i turn my head and avoid looking at their hair? can i still offer a jacket or something similar?
^I’m hoping someone has an answer islamaphpbia is on the rise in my town and I want to be a good male non Muslim ally
For men, yes please, we would prefer it if you avoided looking at our hair, and if we don’t have something to substitute as a hijab at that moment, anything you could lend us, a jacket, etc, would be very appreciated.
Also, since most girls avoid physical contact with men they’re not related to, please do not hug them, but rather shoo the offender away if you can, or at least escort the girl to a safe place. You can still offer words of encouragement and support. Furthermore, understand that the victim may not be very welcoming towards you because she’ll obviously be shaken, and won’t know where you are coming from. If that’s the case, please still give her something to cover herself (hijab is very important, think of it as someone ripping your shirt off) and stand some distance away until you are sure she’s in safe hands.
Thank you so much for your support, we really appreciate it, god bless all of you.
In the horrible climate we’re currently in, please take note of this.
the whole ‘smol mlm beans are being fetishised because a fic didn’t have enema > shower > nail clippers > organic gluten free lube > three fingers > red light/green light safety checks for missionary’ is beyond bizarro to me because
a. why are you looking for ultimate best practice sexual health safety in amatuer gay erotica about existing media franchises
b. it’s insisting that people – and let’s be real here, they’re specifically zeroing in on women – must adhere to writing this wildly unachievable unrealistic standard of sexual practice that i don’t think exists in its entirety outside of, like, some theoretic situation in a sexual health handbook, or else they’re being fetishists and harming gay people
it’s just so divorced from my reasonably varied sexual experiences as a cis woman, a nb person, and a gay man. it’s so hugely divorced from the experiences of my gay and lesbian friends, it’s unlike anything that cis or trans gay people experience on average? and it declaratively states that terms, activities and sexual things that are relatively common, or at least commonly accepted as part of the community, are weird and unhealthy.
‘cruising is bad! one night stands are bad! lesbians don’t have casual sex! fantasising about your femme ass eating out a butch woman behind a western bar is lesbian fetishisation! twink and bear are nsfw terms!’ holy mother of god, please get off the internet. stop reducing everything to what you read in stucky fanfiction on ao3. stop getting all your information from an echo chamber. there’s a world outside and it isn’t performing a three step enema before getting its ass ate, and that’s fine.
like, i’m absolutely not virgin shaming here. i don’t think you need to punch every shift on your fuck timecard in order to write fun sex, but i do think that if you’re narrowing your idea of what is allowable sex in fiction to the point where it must be this distant unattainable speck preceded by eighteen preparatory steps that are performed in total by no one who isn’t actively making all eighteen vaguely medicinal steps into part of their sex life, then perhaps some perspective is in order.
ultimately it’s fuck fiction that is being written and read for fun and to get you off. it’s written for free, or in exchange for art, or a couple of bucks a month on patreon or kofi. there’s a 0.00000000000001% impact on society at large, especially compared to the commercial porn industry and the gig economy sex industry. shit, or even the small fish that is amazon kindle porn? if you want to compare apples to apples it’s a level of scrutiny that isn’t being turned on nsfw het fic, pro and amatuer, which largely skates by without any discourse or examination.
should you question something that’s homophobic? absolutely. should you treat everything that doesn’t hit this remote idealised bullseye as being innately homophobic? nah dogg.
amatur meatbeat fiction is not a sex manual or a health handbook and it’s unreasonable to arbitrarily decide that it should be, you know? you can’t devolve into weird homophobic puritan politics in the name of protecting this strange unattainable concept of gay people while plumbing new weird depths of misogyny.
Beltainefaerie's Flights of Fancy 