#[worst case positively is that no one reads it and I just continue to make things at my own pace]

[the-leyline-directory]

[Important Updates; at least to me!]

Made two additional sideblogs for sorting!;

@idle-muses > For a collection of other characters I want to write but don't want to make an entire full blog for due to various reasons for each. (still being set up in some capacity cause I'm doing house furniture things for a bit!)

but most importantly [at least to me!] @novel-redacted \o/ Where I'm gonna be putting my novel work as it goes! It's posted on a 'chapter by chapter' basis, as that's evidently my way of telling my brain 'stop picking at it, move on' like when I used to write fanfics.

For novel things, It's not required reading in anyway, and the aspect of it having a blog is more for me specifically - as I genuinely have a great fear of sharing it! Last time I tried sharing my work a few years ago anons weren't too kind. [which just fed into my phobias]. So I'll be trying again! And worst case it continues to be 'just for me' \o/ and no one reads it! And that's okay!! (This is said fully positively! That's a good worst case scenario!)

Rambling a bit but the novel, called [REDACTED], is very important to me, as is the main character of it; probably more important than any other media creation I've ever made. I look forward to sharing it as I do \o/ Or, just to have it for myself!

[pedropascallme]

Stupid For You

Pairing: Din Djarin x f!Reader

Summary: “‘What do you think, kid? Do I sound like your dad?’”

Warnings: Use of gendered titles (“wife” and “mother”) but otherwise just longing and a little fluff?

AN: Read part two here

Soundtrack: Stupid For You by Waterparks

“I could bring you in warm…or I could bring you in cold…” You hopped around in Din’s old chest plate, doing your best impression of the Mandalorian as Grogu watched on, gurgling happily and reaching up for you.

“What do you think, kid? Do I sound like your dad?” You picked him up, cradling him in your arms as he continued to babble nonsense. You had finally figured out, after days of being unable to stop him from crying, that all the baby really wanted was his father. It had been an accident that you had found out, really; it just happened that Grogu had gotten himself stuck in an old pauldron, and it just happened that you really wanted to try on some of the armor for yourself, and it just happened that you had to bring the kid everywhere with you—otherwise you would end up in a ship piloted by a wild-child who enjoyed tearing apart anything he could reach with his tiny baby hands.

Din had been gone, what, four days now? Not too bad. He had been gone longer before. He often returned to the ship after a little over a week, battered and bruised, and all you had to do was make sure his son was fed and happy. You were essentially just a glorified babysitter, although sometimes you liked to think of yourself as a sort of makeshift mother; you really did love the kid. Still, the longer you spent on the Crest, the longer you cared for the child, the longer you spent time with Din, growing increasingly fond of the few words you shared with each other (including a few in what you assumed was Mando’a that you couldn’t understand. What in the fresh hell was a “mesh’la”?) you couldn’t help but…miss him?

It was stupid. You were stupid. You knew his given name, and you knew he was a Mandalorian, and you knew his freak baby was capable of a little too much. Everything else was more or less a mystery to you. He seemed to like it that way, and you weren’t really in any position to change it at all. Making any move he was uncomfortable with could result in losing your job, the one true connection to anybody else that you had. Maker, you had seen what Din could do; worst case scenario you’d end up in carbonite. And, really, what would the galaxy’s scariest bounty hunter want with a wife? Not that you were thinking that far in advance, but weren’t you?

Stupid.

The child yawned, big eyes drooping slightly as you walked him to his floating bassinet. He continued to try to keep conversation with you, small patu noises here and there.

“I hear ya,” you placed him down, “but how about we continue this conversation at a later date?” He squawked and you put your hands on your hips, jutting out your knee in an attempt to properly emulate Din. Grogu made a sound that seemed like a laugh, eyes closing slowly as he tried to fight off his drowsiness. 

“This is The Way.” You whispered to him, still trying to bring him peace of mind by pretending. You could feel that he missed his dad—guardian—whatever—every time Din went out during these long periods. And, hey, pretending to be as fearless and powerful as Din was fun for you, too. It kept you and the baby from going stir-crazy. It made you both feel a little safer when you put on the old, beat-up armor and acted like you were an unstoppable Mandalorian. Grogu’s breathing settled into a soft rhythm, signifying that he had lost his battle with sleep. You closed the top of his crib, turning on your heel.

“Is that what I sound like?”

You stopped in your tracks.

Din stood before you, still as a statue.

“W—I just—”

“I think my voice is deeper.” He walked forward, only taking a few strides before he was directly in front of you. 

“You have a modulator.” You tried your best to avoid his gaze, heat blooming in your cheeks as you had been caught in the act of imitating—mocking—your boss. Your caretaker. Roommate? Boss.

“Mm.” He stood still before reaching his arm out in front of him, a gloved hand making contact with the chest plate you were wearing. He wrapped his knuckles against it, and you felt the vibrations of the metal over your chest. You could feel your heart in your throat. He was back, without any warning, without so much as a hello, and now he was standing before you, this beautiful man without a face, making what must have been the first purposeful physical contact you two had ever had.

“Where did you find this?”

“The-the kid found it. Kept rummaging through your, uh, wardrobe…” You trailed off, unsure if that was the correct word to use for the tiny storage space on the ship that Din had the habit of throwing spare capes and old clothes in. “He likes when I wear it.” You tried to sound like you weren’t pushing down the feeling of intense humiliation.

“You’d make a good Mandalorian.” Din dropped his hand. “It looks good on you, cyare.” 

He stayed in front of you for a few moments, peering through his visor and examining you. After a few moments, he turned, walking away and up to the cockpit.

You stood where he had left you, raising a hand to where he had touched the armor you wore. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid… 

You're playing ring around my head I wear you like a halo You're a symphony, I'm just a sour note

[lizzieislife94x]

Dating Site (w.m)

Requested <3

 WandaG!PxFem Reader

sorry i haven't posted in a few days guys family came up from England and I've had a full house hahaha anyway i will be posting an AN in a few hours or tomorrow so please check it out when posted love yall thank you for reading as always i hope yall enjoy!

Y/ns POV:

I bite my nails feeling a little nervous as my mind runs wild I have a date tonight well in the next few hours and the thing that's making me nervous is I met her online on a dating site we've spoke on the phone but tonight is our first date her voice is heavenly I could listen to her talk all day and night "y/n coffees getting cold" my roommate yells snapping me out of my thoughts I quickly get up and walk into the livingroom "dude what if tonight goes wrong what if she doesn't like me or something" I sigh taking a sip of my coffee "y/n I see the way you smile at your phone when she texts or calls think positively what if she does like you what if she's the one worst case scenario you get railed by a sexy chick and never speak again" she says with a wink as she gently pushes my shoulder making me laugh "you know what youre right thanks jill" I finish my coffee before heading back to my room to shower and get ready. 

4 hours later:

Me:Hey I just arrived see you soon x 

I set my phone down as I sit at the table waiting for my date just a causal coffee shop date but its a cute little coffee shop my leg starts to bounce as my nervous build up "y/n..." I look up to see the most stunning girl I've ever laid my eyes I feel like all the oxygen has left my body "hey wanda right?" I say with a smile as I stand up to hug her which she returns I quickly pull her chair out for her as she sits "I'm glad you came" I say nervously we fall into a comfortable conversation It feels so natural we spend 3 hours talking getting to know eachother

"I can't believe it's 9pm already can I walk you home" she says with a smile I nod as we walk to my house continuing our conversation "well this is me" I say as we stop infront of my apartment she pulls me into a hug making me smile as I pull away she kisses my cheek "I'd love to go out on another date with you if you'd allow me to take you out" she says looking into my eyes I feel my cheeks flush and nod "yes of course" I say before we bid our goodbyes.

3 weeks later:

"You've been smiling at your phone for 19 minutes " Jill says making me look up "shut up tonight's my 4th date with wanda she's just text details I was thinking of asking her to come up tonight so do you mind if I have the place to myself " I say biting my lip me and wanda have been flirting alot making out and we always stop before it gets heated but tonight I wanna invite her up "oh la la la I can't believe youre on your 4th date and you haven't fucked yet" she says making me blush "dude shut up"

 Wands: See you tonight beautiful *1 imagine attached* 

I spit out my water looking at my phone as I open the picture an image of wanda wrapped in a short towel appearing on my screen oh fuck I can't breathe "what was that for!!" I look over to Jill covered in my water "you got sent a nude Holy shit!" I shake my head "no no I didn't I gotta go get ready bye and sorry" I quickly run to my room closing the door I lean my body against it as I bite my lip I strip to my matching bra and panties as I take a picture in the full length mirror

Me:I spit water all over my roommate thank you very much *1 image attached* 

I put my phone down and remove my bra and panties as I get in the shower I quickly get washed and wash my hair it takes roughly 20 minutes before I climb out and wrap myself in a towel I bite my lip as I walk in excited to check my phone I pick it up and screw my face up as there's no reply I start to type a message

Me: the picturewasn't that bad was it I thought my ass looker rather good in those panties..

I towel dry my hair as my phone dings

Wands: Baby baby baby I'm so sorry I was to busy trying to remember how to breathe then I couldn't take my eyes off the photo and youre right.. fuck your ass looked AMAZING in those panties holy shit

Me: Thank god I thought it was to much and you didn't wanna speak I got scared, I can't wait to see you soon baby and I have the place to myself tonight so I was thinking we could come back here afterwards?..

Wands:I have an idea why don't we just have the date at your apartment we can watch movies make out have a glass of wine or 2 make out talk and make out oh and did I say make out? 😉 

Me: That sounds like a plan I'll see you soon and i uh i dunno maybe we should uh make out?😏 

I put my phone down and I run out in my towel "Jill wandas just coming here for our date if you don't mind heading out please and thank you" I head back into my room and start getting ready since we're staying here I decided to go for short shorts and a tight vest top that shows my cleavage perfectly I throw my hair up in a messy bun as I sit on my bed deciding to watch an episode of friends to kill time 

2 hours later

"OK im off y/n byeee" my roommate yells "ok bye see you tomorrow" I yell back 10 minutes later my phone dings

Wands: I'm here baby 

I quickly run out to let her in as she wraps her arms around me holding me tight "I see you went for the casual look, I love it" she whispers in my ear making me smile as I step back "you look beautiful" i say truthfully as I pull her into the apartment we ordered some pizza as I spent the full time admiring her, her laugh her smile everything "that was some great pizza" she says leaning back as I agree we spend the next 3 hours cuddling watching a friends I feel the urge to kiss her so I sit up and straddle her waist as I sit "mh hey" she whispers as her hands settle on my thighs I quickly press my lips against hers as I start to make out with her the kiss quickly heats up a moan leaving my lips as I feel something hard pushing against my core I look at her a little shocked as she looks down avoiding my gaze I hold her chin gently making her look up at me "hey don't ever be ashamed I'm still here I don't care that you have a dick I find it hot" before I know it her lips smash against mine as we make our way to my bedroom the feeling of her hard member pressed against me only turning me on more "I can't wait to feel you" I pant out against her lips as we fall onto the bed our clothes being thrown everywhere until we're both naked I bite my lip at the sight of her as she does the same "fuck y/n"

she looks at me lust in her eyes as she stops and sits on the bed "I have something I need to say" she says looking nervous I sit up and rub her back "hey you can tell me anything its ok" she turns to look at me taking my hands "I have a BDSM kink" she says low as a giggle leaves my lips "me too I love being tied up" she looks at me shocked as the lust takes over her eyes once again "do you wanna do it" she says turning to me I quickly lean over into my drawer and pull out ropes making her smirk "oh you kinky little slut" her words turn me on more as I lay with my legs and arms spread "tie me up daddy" as soon as I speak the words she flicks her wrists and my arms and legs are tied to the bed I look at her shocked "that's a story for another time babygirl for now just relax if you want me to stop at anytime say Red ok?" I moan and nod as eyes explore my naked exposed body "ok daddy" I whimper as her hands slide up my thighs to my core her fingers spreading my pussy lips as a moan leaves both our mouths "look how wet you are for me princess such a naughty girl" she says as her slender fingers slide into my tight cunt causing me to arch my back and moan "mmmh fuck wands right there feels so good" I moan as she kisses up my body thrusting her fingers perfectly hitting all the right spots her lips latch around my right nipple as she sucks taking no mercy I can't help but scream her name as she curls her fingers hitting my gspot with each thrust "I'm gonna..oh god I'm gonna..cum" I pant as I cum all over her talented fingers my breathing rapid as she slips her fingers out "such a good girl did that feel good baby" I nod as I try to control my breathing "are you ready to take my dick babygirl" she says as she positions herself between my spread legs the sight enough to make me cum again I let out a whimper as she runs her head through my cum soaked cunt "please daddy please" I beg still breathing rapidly I feel her line herself up to my entrance as her hand grabs my tit I feel her slam deep inside me "uh fuck y/n shit your so fucking tight" she moans into my eyes as she starts thrusting "so big so big" I pant desperately needing to touch her to pull her tighter into me "fa..faster daddy" I moan as she starts pounding my cunt faster and harder I've never been this turned on I've never been this wet but fuck me does she do something to me and I love it "yes yes yes!!! Don't stop please oh my fucking god yessssss" I scream as she slams her length into me at a bruising pace her moans in my ear making it harder not to cum "let go princess cum all over my dick" as soon as she whispers into my ear it's game over I cum all over her dick as she continues to pound me faster "fuck wanda cum inside me" she groans and I feel her thrusts become sloppy letting me know she's close "I need to feel you filling me baby p..please" I pant as another orgasm crashes over me after a few more thrusts I feel her deeper than before as she slams inside me shooting her load into my cunt her body collapses onto mine as we both pant trying toget our breaths back "I have never..felt that amazing" I whisper into herear as she sits up and slides out me moaning at the sight "me either baby" she says as she unties me before heading to the bathroom to clean herself and returning with a damp cloth to clean me "now time for lots of cuddles and kisses because you deserve it baby" I smile as she climbs into bed I instantly wrap my arms and legs around her "can we watch more friends please baby" I say with puppy eyes as she giggles "of course we can baby as long as I get to hold you" I smile as i put the TV on and load friends we spent the rest of the night in eachothers arms this is what I want forever with her.

AN: I hope this is ok I always feel these are crap when I write them haha but as long as you sexy people enjoy them that's the important thing requests as always are open babes word count , stay hydrated babes 2.1k

[thatfrenchacademic]

OK so about this "34, unmarried and childless" article about Taylor Swift. Let me tell you about Scam Academia.

TL;DR: some mediocre dude had a half baked opinio nabout Taylor Swift that everyone hated, but like Mother Nature I let nothing go to waste.

Here is the take you have not heard yet, about this opinion: this guy is actually a good case study on how to develop your academic literacy, aka how to recognize a true academic from a scammer who presents themselves as an academic, but is just a crook. In a world of pseudoscience and pretend experts that have enough resources to organize their flat earth conference, let me walk you through the world of Scam Academic, where for a few thousand dollars, you too can claim to be a researcher with a doctorate! Follow me down a rabbit hole that I hate with my whole heart!

Preamble: I have zero skin in the TS game. I don't get the hype, the lore, the obsession with those 2000s bracelet or dissecting every single line or every single song.

But then. Some guy had to write an op-ed stating Taylor Swift was not a good role model for girls ("in the US and beyond"), and it is a terrible take on so many level, but here is the thing. Whiny conservative think-pieces about highly successful women who should get back to the kitchen and think of the children are nothing new. But this one is different.

This one is fucking terribly written. It's just an abysmally written blog post. Genuinely one of the worst thing I have ever read, and I read hundreds of undergrad essays every year for a living. It contradicts its own arguments in every paragraph. It over-explains concepts like it's a high school essay and he's trying to meet the word count. It says "this is a valid question worth asking" but does not actually explain why it is worth asking. It is so, so, so bad.

Conservative writers are usually more the "high brow, drowning you in grandstanding" kind of writers. They are, usually, good technical writers - it's the one thing that helps make their talking point sound legit and palatable. So an abysmally bad conservative writer? Ok, I am intrigued.

The author is one John Mac Ghlionn. I look up the guy on Google and...

Oh.

Oh no, John.

Spewing conservative bullshit at women AND a researcher? You're in my turf now, John. You could have continued to cover UFC Pillow Fight Championships, or alien technology and other riveting subjects, but you had try to connect two brain cells to argue a thing, and slap "researcher" on top of it. Now I'm offended, as a researcher.

1. I am sorry, researcher WHERE?

Ok so if one is a "researcher", it means one conduct "research". and contrary to what backyard conspiracy theorists think, "researcher" is an actual job. It is an actual professional occupation. You get an actual contract, and you are paid actual money. By an actual employer: public (University), private (Think tank, private company), or a mix of both (at Unviersity, but on a privately funded project, for example).

So where does our John Mc Ghlionn work?

Well. Nowhere, as far as I can tell.

John does not list any affiliation. Usually, when they write, academics will state their exact position (Researcher, Doctoral Researcher, Associate Professor, Chief Engineer, Head of Department, Research Director...) and where they work. For example:

That's what it is supposed to look like.

But John? Nope, no affiliation anywhere, on anything he ever published. That's a pretty massive read flag. Research takes ressources: at the very least, time and access to database and documentation, even in social sciences in humanities. You may not need a lab, but you sure as hell need money and full access to JStore at least.

So I thought he was just one of these "I google therefore I research" kind of dude. But then, out of nowhere:

I am sorry. He has a WHAT.

2. I am sorry, a Doctorate from WHERE?

So. One thing to claim to be a researcher when you are just a professional yapper. Another to claim a DIPLOMA.

And not any diploma. A doctorate.

Let's pause. "Doctorate" is actually a really broad umbrella term of all doctoral-level degrees. The most famous (and most prestigious, for better and worse) is the PhD, but a PhD is technically just one of many Research Doctorate of, theoretically, the same level (cue this helpful reddit post). A second category of doctorates are the Applied Doctorates, and while there is Discourse on where they sit vis-a-vis PhD, the easiest is to consider that they are not research-oriented. They are hands-on, practice-oriented degrees. For example: you can practice medicine with an MD. You don't need a PhD. You can still call yourself a doctor, though.

Alright, so which of these does our friend Johnnie has? Or is currently enrolled in? And in which University?

You will notice that John does not go by "John Mac Ghlionn PhD" or even "Dr John Mac Ghlionn", when you just KNOW he is the sort of person that would but that shit everywhere. And no shade here, because I, for one, do put that shit everywhere. Maybe he is just currently enrolled in a program and has not graduated. Fair.

Since John does not list affiliation, I had to switch from academic to internet sleuth, and dig out this article:

But we learn that in 2021, John was a "PhD Scholar" in "Parkmore Institute". "PhD Scholar" is not a title I am sued to, but it's also not raising any red flag: ongoing PhD researchers can be "PhD students", "PhD fellows", "PhD researchers"... It varies from country to country and from institution to institution, so why not "PhD Scholar".

Let's check out the Parkmore Institute.

Ok, they are not a traditional university, but they appear to be more of a postgraduate institution: offering only higher level degrees, not undergrad courses. Once again, not necessarily a red flag. They are usually very heavily research focused, and embrace the "research" side of academia more than the "teaching" side. In Germany, the Max Planck Institutes are research-only institutions who deliver PhDs. They conduct cutting edge research, in part because their researchers rarely have to spend time teaching.

But that is NOT the Parkmore Institute. First of all, let's see what programs they offer:

None of them are legit.

And I mean, none of them are recognize as even Applied/Professional Doctorate by the National Science Foundation (US based). And while a PhD in Human sexuality would be perfectly valid, but I'm going to on a limb and say I have some serious doubts about "Bodymind Healing" as an academic field.

These are not legit academic degrees.

What they are, is an excellent money-making opportunity for anyone working at the Parkmore institute. Students will pay, at the very least:

And 60% of this goes to their " faculty mentor". The Parkmore institute provides no research fund, no desk or office space (they are entirely digital), no access to any resources or library, not even a Zoom account. There is also no mention of any timeline: how long a PhD take to complete? Who knows. 6 months ? A year ? 5 years? What are the requirements to graduate ? Who knows ! And I would need to pay $200 to get in touch with them, so I sure as fuck won't know any time soon!

But let's get back to our friend John. Remember that he stated, in that 2021 publication, he was a "PhD Scholar" at Parkmore ? Well that's a shame because Parkmore does not deliver PhDs. Ain't that a bitch.

ALSO. Parkmore helpfully has page with all their Doctoral Recipients! And guess who is NOT HERE ! That's right, our Johnnie !

How can this be ? Well, three possibilities:

John is still not done with a PhD. After 4 years ? In a crank university where I am pretty sure I can submit the first draft of a litt review and graduate ? Nah

John never completed the thing. Boo, that would mean that John is lying, when he says he has a doctorate. Bad, bad.

John did graduate, and obtained his doctorate in [scrolls back to check] psychosocial studies, and then was not put on the website or was withdrawn some time before today, as Parkmore institute ended their affiliation with him, as per this bit in their application form

A shame, really. If John had been affiliated with the Parkmore Institute, it would give a shred of legitimacy to anything he writes to anyone just skimming.

Now, I would love to get in touch with the Parkmore Institute and ask to see John's doctoral work, which they DO have, since the application for also has this very interesting section:

(definitely very legit, very normal).

But I am not sure how I would even phrase that request without transparently going

"hey, would love to see what bullshit research is being done over there, since one of your graduate decided to go all Handmaid's tale for the last 2 years".

If anyone feels like sending that email, I am begging you to keep me in the loop.

3. Back up, back up, what's up with that article?

Remember the article where he was listed as a "PhD Fellow"?

Well, about that... No. Welcome to the world of predatory publishing, one more cog in the Bullshit Academic ecosystem.

First: not at article. It's a "commentary". Could be worth something ia good journal, but still would not be a piece of research. But that is the least of its sins.

Its sins are being published in a journal called "Sociology and Criminology-Open Access", by a publisher called "Longdom". Longdom publishing has a bunch of journals on a lot o different fields, with the particularly of being predatory; they will publish absolutely anything you send them, as long as you pay their Article Processing Charges:

There are entire lists of Predatory journals on the web, you can find on here and another here , Longdom Publishing is in both.

This is how John can publish this last minute, Redbull-and-weed-induced essay in an actual journal, with an abstract that, I kid you not, finishes with "Please find the paper attached." He slapped together a shitty essay about people in India are poorer and therefore more likely to exhibit psychopathic traits and therefore engage in corruption, purely base on vibes. It does not even deserve be given any consideration, not even to be debunked. There is nothing to be debunked. This would be a failing grade for a 1st year intro class.

CONCLUSION

On the surface, John Mac Ghlionn is the poster boy of failed edgelords who really wish they were Jordan Peterson, but unfortunately are just Doug, the guy for 10th grade who failed the Literature class and decided it was because litterature was too woke today anyway.

Beneath the surface, John is a case study in Scam Academia, and the proof that no matter how bad actual academia is, Scam Academia can always get worse.

A quick checklist to go through whenever someone claims be a researcher, an academic, a fellow, a doctor, a PhD or anything of the sort:

What is their affiliation? Is this a legitimate organization?

Do they have a PhD? Another doctorate degree? From where?

Have they published ? Where is it published?

[nyoomerr]

Do you have any tips for finishing works and getting enough confidence to post them?

sure! just keep in mind that these are tips from my single perspective, and everyone's creative processes are different, etc etc all the usual disclaimers 🙈

↓↓ all advice under the readmore cuz it got pretty lengthy ↓↓

for finishing works, you'll probably have to start by identifying why you don't feel like continuing a particular WIP.

is it a time/energy thing? make sure you're staying physically healthy (good food, keeping hydrated, moderate exercise) and that you aren't forcing yourself to sit down and write at the end of a long day when you've already spent all your mental energy elsewhere. this is one of the lamest points of advice on the whole list but i am being so serious about it.

is it a lack of inspiration? try talking about the fic with a friend, using prompt generators, or thinking back to what originally inspired the fic to begin with. if you started writing the fic for One Specific Scene, go write that scene, regardless of how far out you are from it chronologically! you can always revise or rewrite it later if it turns out that the in-between scenes change some of the context or flow.

is it that you're struggling to get a scene written just right? skip past it and come back later, maybe leaving just a quick one or two line summary of what you want to happen in that scene so you don't forget later. if you can't skip past it, then tell yourself "okay, i'm going to rewrite this later," before trying to write it - if you have already decided that this will not be your final draft, then it can help you feel less hesitant to put imperfect words down.

for gathering the confidence to post a work, it's a bit more tricky...

i think most people want to post things because they want to receive external validation on it... so so valid and relatable 🤝 BUT this motivation makes it hard to actually shut out the factors that can cause nerves (i.e., advice like "turn off comments if you're worried about receiving criticism" is useless, because then you also don't get the positive comments you likely wanted in the first place).

one strategy you could try is starting with a small audience first - just send it to a friend you know will be your hypeman. if you're feeling more bold, you can try sharing it with a discord server or group chat - essentially, narrowing the audience down to people that you know will be supportive of your work, no matter what.

if sharing the fic with your friends actually sounds like the Worst Case Scenario, then i'd instead recommend posting it to an anon collection! if you end up not being happy with the response to the fic, you can pretend it was never yours to begin with - there's no shame in using the anon tool as it was meant to be used. if you end up feeling really proud of the work after the nerves have passed, you can always de-anon it later to tie it back to you!

regardless of how or who you share it with though, my top recommendation is that you sit down and identify every little thing that you're proud of in your work before you post it. write these things out so you don't forget! the people who are going to read your work will not have the same tastes, experiences, and desires that you personally had when you sat down to write the fic to begin with. if they don't like parts of it, it does NOT mean those parts are bad - it just wasn't for them personally!

that can be hard to remember when you're getting feedback, though, which is why it's important to have those things that YOU like about your work written down so you can go take a look at them to remind yourself.

if you try posting a work and afterwards go "oh, that isn't for me, i'd rather just create for myself personally," then that's totally chill! what would be tragic is if you posted a work and then felt so shitty after the fact that it tainted your enjoyment of the creation process itself. that's why, no matter what, please remember that you wrote this fic for yourself, and hold on to the things that you like about it!!

anyway that got pretty rambly but TLDR: 1) figure out why you're having trouble finishing your WIP and tackle that reason instead of blindly pushing yourself forward 2) ease yourself into posting in whatever way is least intimidating for you, no need to jump straight to having an AO3 profile linked to your writing 3) no matter what, make sure you remember the things that you personally enjoy about what you made, and celebrate those things!

[gibbearish]

wanted to throw my hat into the ring specifically in regards to james responding to the bigotry claims bc i havent seen anyone address the aspects i wanna talk abt in full yet, it kinda got long as fuck for a p short excerpt so putting it under a readmore

so here's the section (text from @storagebay29 's v helpful transcript):

"I never ever intended to hurt anybody. I never thought that that's what I was doing. Before I went- before I went to the hospital,¹ I read a lot of stuff from people who were really hurt, not just authors and stuff but people who watched my videos who were hurt by stuff in them. People think that I hate ace people and women and bisexual people and lesbians and that's not true. It's really- it's just- it’s not true. And I’m sorry that stuff made it into videos² that just shouldn’t have been there: misinformation and lies... But I promise you I did not write that stuff.³

I should have been a lot more exacting when Nick and I would be editing scripts but I promise you that those are not- I don't think those things.⁴ I specifically want to apologise to asexual people who feel⁵ that I just completed delegitimised you. Nick being ace, I- I know that it's kinda like you know, no two gay people are exactly the same, no two ace people are exactly the same, but I kind of, when it came to that I just kind of ran with Nick's judgement⁶ and his observations and stuff like that. And I’m not trying to throw Nick under the bus,⁷ which a bunch of people are saying that I was setting him up as doing, which is not true…"

so! let's break this down

¹ "Before I went- before I went to the hospital" - firstly i want to be clear of my position with the "did he actually attempt" question bc ive seen some people being absolutely vile already, which is that while i understand doubting his story considering his history of lying and manipulation and obviously skewed moral compass, i also feel like it is VERY much plausible enough that publically speculating abt whether it's true or not is shitty, especially telling HIM you think he's lying. best case scenario you're right, worst case scenario you're crossing a hell of a line, and he's obviously done enough stuff that the situation can be addressed pretty comprehensively without risking getting that coin flip wrong. i think we should proceed under the assumption that lying about that is one line he wouldn't cross, and if proof comes along that he was lying then obviously fuck him, but otherwise i think that aspect should be off limits. and having said all that, even under the assumption he is telling the truth, the way he brings it up in this apology is still manipulative, as many have already pointed out, and this is an excellent example. by bringing it up right before addressing his bigotry, he a) implies to the audience that these comments in particular are a notable part of what sent him there, and therefore plants the idea that if they continue to address it while knowing how badly it's already affecting him, they'd be deliberately trying to hurt him or push him to attempt again, and b) tries to distract the audience from the fact that he's addressing his bigotry and get them to go easy on him, since clearly he's already punished himself over it enough. but harming yourself does not actually make up for harm caused to others, and even if it did, unlearning the bigotry that caused the harm in the first place doesnt end at "feel really bad about it," that's actually step one. and as i'm sure you're already aware and i'll get into more in points 4 and 5, whether he's even at step one yet is doubtful!

² "And I’m sorry that stuff made it into videos" - others have covered his passive voice the whole way through so i won't dwell too long beyond pointing it out, it's mostly just highlighted here bc of how it ties into the next point

³ "But I promise you I did not write that stuff." - just, beautiful in so many ways. performance art, even. firstly, the fact that one of the closest places he comes to calling it plagiarism is in defense against a second allegation? just lmao. and secondly, this is about the most solid proof you could get that he indeed did not watch hbomberguy's video (or at least the whole thing) because hbomb very conclusively showed that if there are /any/ original thoughts of James' in his scripts, it is the bigotry, because he showed multiple examples of James /specifically/ rewording things he plagiarized to ADD IN the bigotry. so then tying back to point 2, his passive voice then becomes about ten times funnier here because he was just. blissfully unaware we all already knew exactly how it "made it into" the script and that his next statement would be a lie. just incredible

⁴ "I don't think those things." - notice the lack of specificity here, the most he can say is "people think i hate these groups" and "i don't think those things" and not "this is exactly what i said that was harmful, here's how it was harmful, here's the correct version of it, and here's how to avoid similar pitfalls in the future", yknow, like what people do when they actually accidentally say bigoted things bc they don't know any better? and again this point ties into the next one:

⁵ "I specifically want to apologise to asexual people who feel that I just completed delegitimised you." - ah yes, nothing says apology like "i'm sorry you felt like what i said was hurtful," where the message is less "i did something wrong and hurt you, i regret this and want to fix it," and more "you were too sensitive and got your feelings hurt by something i didn't intend to be hurtful, but i GUESS i'll be the bigger person and say sorry even though i didn't actually do anything wrong🙄". and see again 4, if he actually had looked into it and learned why it was wrong, he wouldn't be saying people "felt" delegitimised. he would be explaining why people reacted that way ie what it was a reaction to, why this reaction was correct, and providing actual information about asexual people. but he doesnt, because he didnt, because he doesnt care. which is all ESPECIALLY fucked because in saying it this way he's. delegitimising what they were saying. like some kind of fuckin aphobia ouroboros

⁶ "when it came to that I just kind of ran with Nick's judgement" + ⁷ "And I’m not trying to throw Nick under the bus" - here we are, the crown jewels. so obviously ppl are already talking abt the performative allyship of "but my best friend is minority and they said it was fine!!1!" which is fucked up on its own, but then the fact that he immediately jumps to "and also i'm not throwing nick under the bus" shows us that within the greater context, point 6 did indeed mean "the bigotry in the scripts that i am currently apologizing for and explaining the presence of in this section is there because i repeated the things nick told me were true, these ideas originate from him." aka blame nick, not me. but then he remembered that scapegoating nick is also something people are accusing him of so he had to backtrack over it, which if it was actually an innocent statement, it yknow. wouldn't need to be backtracked over? it's like he thinks just because he doesn't outright say "nick has bigoted ideas that i parroted so basically its his fault" that no one can pick up on the subtext? and frankly i don't know much about nick (or james beyond this whole thing tbf so obv take everything i say with the whole shaker of salt) so this very well could be the truth to a degree, but if nick does hold bigoted views too, that's TOO. not instead. for james to repeat them without question to the camera means he doesn't disagree. even if hbomb hadn't proven the bigotry did originate from him, it would still be meaningless, because if it came from nick then that would just mean james decided to stay close working friends with a shitbag and repeat all of his garbage to his fans uncritically!

so in summary, in just this one chunk he: reminds you to be extra niceys to him because hes delicate right now, immediately lies about where the bigotry came from, talks around what he actually said wrong or that he was in the drivers seat for it, then blames nick for it before hearing himself say it out loud reminds him people are picking up on that now too and has to walk it back.

to spoof the roblox oof video: when we look at the sum collective of all of his claims regarding his bigotry, and we put it in context with. the fucking everything about him. when james says the bigotry didn't come from him, this might just be me. but I don't believe him!

[spidersmiceandeverythingnice]

Oooo anyway I just remember why I Hate and Loathe the big High Lord meeting in ACOWAR and why it fully cements SJM in my Worst Authors category for like a billion reasons

1. Feyre refuses to bow to the Dawn Court. Weird choice and completely fucking awkward to read - I guess this is meant as some kind of Girlboss Moment - like "no, I won't bow to the stinky old fashioned MEN!!!! who run this world. My super hot boyfriend gave me this title and I'm the master of the universe now." But it's... childish. Also? Way to disrespect Thesan but this is going to become a pattern because of course the gay Asian High Lord has no special powers apart from super good healing that literally every other character can accomplish, and of course he's gentle, and passive (ultimately willing to "bow [to Rhysand] if the other [High Lords] will") and of course his lover has no name and never speaks. Great! Hate it.

2. Morrigan and Vivian. On paper this seems interesting as far as a relationship goes like - what kind of interesting Court relations did Night have pre Amarantha and can those bonds be salvaged? But instead of asking those questions the scene decides to immediately undercut Vivian's character as a badass general and warrior who defended Winter in her childhood friend/future husband's absence by making her squeal like a literal 13 year old when the Night Court - who is suspected of murdering 24 children - shows up. Vivian proceeds to throw a fit and snarks about wanting to be a High Lady. Rip Vivian we hardly knew ye.

3. Do I even need to talk about Helion being the worst bisexual rep. Do I even need to say it. Good lord.

4. Do I even need to talk about Fantasy China and Helion being allied with the Faerie Confederates. Do I even need to explain this. It gets worse, somehow!

5. Tamlin and Tarquin actually have a case against allying with the Night Court given literally everything that happened in the last two books but this isn't painted as reasonable distrust of a group of lying backstabbing sycophants who purposefully play up their cruelty and keep secrets from the other Courts. No, of course not. Tarquin immediately forgives the Night Court because he has no backbone whatsoever apparently. Tamlin is considered unreasonable for not trusting Feyre and Rhys, who have continuously tried to hurt him and his people and undermine his authority as High Lord.

6. Everyone immediately forgets that Rhysand worked for Amarantha for 50 years and distrusts Tamlin, who has worked for Hybern for all of five minutes and also brings tons of information on their troop movements and positions, confirming that all of his so called alliance was a fraud and he's been spying on them the whole time.

7. Literally the whole fucking deal with the Winter Court. Like I'm sorry that Rhys is so sexual traumatized by Amarantha but children fucking died in a horrible, gruesome way that now, nobody can be accountable for. This is on my top 3 of most egregious SJM retcons because I'm supposed to believe that some daemati we've never heard of before, is never mentioned or seen again, is supposedly the missing link to absolve Rhysand of the fact that he murdered 24 children in book one and devastated the Winter Court. Give me a fucking break. And Feyre gets so SAD and hurt when Rhys says he was confined to Amarantha’s bedroom, but I guess dead kids in Winter and Spring are just the price you pay for loving a morally gray bryonic hero uwu. I'd say, "Get fucked," but i think Rhys and Feyre would enjoy that too much.

8. When the Autumn Court says mean things it makes them irredeemable, but when Azriel and Feyre break all the rules of magic and physically retaliate and hurt other people, it's a-okay, and totally justified! Oh, the Lady of Autumn (another unnamed, sad silent [white] victim who only exists for Helion to angst over) gets hurt by virtue of being a bystander? Totally cool and normal, and since she's been a victim of domestic violence before, it means that she's a secret good guy who will totally understand and forgive Feyre for her totally justifiable outburst. Fuck off.

9. Feyre speaking to and ordering Azriel around like a literal rabid dog. Do I even need to explain this and why its bad. Do I even need to say it.

10. This scene was a joke and everything about it was a stinking trash fire.

[darklinaforever]

It's curious that you don't defend her about being a bad mother and a bad wife...it's something, seeing as you think that everyone in that series owes her something. And it's normal that you don't know Sweetestpoocorn, she writes Rhaenyra having Daemon as her husband from the beginning and having Aegon and Viserys as her first children, a fic only taking the canon as a reference and without contamination of the "good moments" of the couple from the show, clearly something you wouldn't enjoy. And by the way a little exaggerated with the show Rhaenyra, little more and she suffered more than Christ on the cross,during her marriage to Laenor...when she literally had what she wanted,a cover to sleep with whoever she wanted. And comparing the impact that the marriage with Laenor had on Rhaenyra with the one it had on this lady seems like an insult to the canonical Rhaenyra that you say you love, but hey, continue enjoying whatever you like. I'm just saying that when you have problems with everyone, maybe the problem is you, you always want to be right and when they don't give it to you you block people, I guess that's easier than assuming that not everyone is going to agree with you.

Well she literally considered accepting Otto's offer of giving her children hostage and she basically just cheated on Daemon.

I don't particularly call that a good mother or a good wife.

Although show Rhaenyra is far from being the worst person in the world on a technical level.

She is also far from being up to par with her book counterpart in terms of writing, coherence and nuance, especially since we moved into adulthood with Emma D'arcy. Be careful, the acting is very good, but the writing is not there at all unlike the young Rhaenyra played by Milly.

The gratuitous attack on the fanfiction aspect makes me laugh. I literally read fanfiction where Daemyra manages to get married first and have their own children, thus straying from the path of HOTD canon and F&B. So what are you talking about to judge without knowing ?

Again, I like some of Daemyra's things in the show but absolutely not all of it.

The thing that makes me love them is above all the chemistry between the actors more than the scenario itself around them.

And believe me that generally there are no Daemyra scenes from the show that join the book when I think of the Fire and Blood version.

Absolutely not.

If not probably the concept of Twin Flames, because I like to attribute this term to most of my favorite ships and Daemyra F&B or HOTD, fits it quite well for me.

I say it myself that these HOTD characters are downright caricatures of their F&B counterparts. You don't teach me anything. Don't act like I'm defending the writing of this show. Because that was never the case. So what are you trying to do here ?

On the other hand, saying that HOTD is a bad show does not mean that we should demonize everything in it either as if there was absolutely nothing positive or... well true ?

To say that Rhaenyra is a bad friend or a bad daughter and that she didn't suffer from the marriage to Laenor because her only goal was to be able to sleep with whoever she wanted, that's bullshit, I'm sorry. A little objectivity, even on something bad, doesn't kill you.

However, all of this does not prevent me from recognizing that this Rhaenyra has nothing to do with the one in the book like the rest of the characters in HOTD and that that displeases me enormously.

Oh and I assure you, I don't have a problem with everyone, far from it.

And yes... I imagine that with your reasoning, the haters who send me gratuitous hatred full of nonsense are not the real problem but me while we're at it.

On the other hand, I have always said that everyone is free to have their opinion in many positions. No point in you also distorting my words and what I do. I never said that my opinion was truthful and superior.

Also, anon, we're on tumblr, it's common to block people with whom you don't share the same opinion, even for those with whom you've never exchanged words. And when we see that the rare debates we have lead to nothing, yes, we generally end up blocking things too. There's nothing evil or surprising about it. If the block button is there it is ready to be used.

[guiraguira]

Hi can I request ichiro hitoya and samatoki taking care of their fem s/o when she's having period cramps?

Helping you ✨

Hello!!💕 Yes! It really seems interesting to me and I don't usually see fics or hc on this topic (at least not from the fandoms I'm a part of)

Warnings: None in particular, just comfort for menstrual pain.

Ichiro - Samatoki - Hitoya x fem reader!

Ichiro

° He knows how menstruation works and has definitely read a lot of articles online about what to do to help you if something hurts. So when he sees you lying in the fetal position he can already imagine what is happening to you. Crouching down to your height he asks what he can do for you, he wants to know specifically what you need right now.

°"S/o, do you want some medicine? Some heat? Chocolate?" He gently strokes your hair as he asks you. Whatever the answer, he will bring everything in any way and leave it at your fingertips. He constantly asks you if the pain has decreased a little or is it still the same, he does it unconsciously because it hurts him to see you like this and even though this happens every month he never gets used to it.

° It will keep you company for long hours if the pain does not decrease and no matter how much you try to push it away, you will not be able to make it go away for more than a few minutes before being by your side again.

"Don't you have a job? I'm fine" but the pain just gets stronger and causes you to twist your face while squeezing your abdomen. He leaves the room only to re-enter with a tea "they say chamomile tea is good in these cases" and without the possibility of discussion he stays by your side waiting for you to finish it.

° He tries to distract you a little by kissing your head while he chats with you and gives you his "I'm acting natural, but if you suffer I suffer" look by holding your hand throughout the process, at some point the situation seems so funny that finally You make the pain go into the background.

° Forget about crying in front of him, your crying causes him to cry too in the worst case scenario. Applying a heating pad that he bought especially for you, he adjusts it as best as possible while he holds your face in his hands.

Samatoki

° He definitely knows a thing or two about what period pain is, but he's not as sweet with his words. He expresses himself best with his actions towards you, he will be totally at your gestures and movements, at the slightest sign of discomfort he will force you to sit down so that you do not strain.

° He will definitely force you to take some medication to dull the pain if they become too intense, otherwise he will bring you blankets so you can wrap yourself as you like. He perfectly masters the art of wrapping you so that the blankets give you comfort.

"This one is very soft, it looks like a stuffed animal" you say as Samatoki spins it around you and presses it against your body. "Yes and this one is a little heavier, so I'll put it on your waist" with a relaxed and calm voice he continues adding layers of blankets while he explains the function of it to you.

° Unfortunately, he doesn't have as much time to stay next to you as he would like, so when he can, he likes to replace the hot water bottle you use with his hands and allow you to lie on him.

"This month was worse, wasn't it?" The palms of his hands lightly squeeze your abdomen as he asks you. You moan in the affirmative and he moves to cradle you more comfortably as he caresses you with his thumbs in light circles.

° He can't see a single tear on your face so if you cry from the pain he freezes in place, he will ask you a thousand times if you don't want to go to the doctor so they can give you more effective medicine. He can handle being hurt, but he can't see you hurt, and if you refuse to go he has no choice but to offer you a back massage, hoping that it will relieve some of the tension.

° He will not let you clench your teeth or bite your lips to endure the pain, he is able to put his fingers so that you bite them in his place. When you relax a little he will bring you your favorite dessert so you can keep your mouth entertained.

Hitoya

° Yes, he has the entire situation under control for you and when you are in pain he pampers you without any shame. He is even capable of leaving work halfway and picking you up wherever you are if you tell him you can't get home because of the pangs of pain.

° He will prepare a bathtub for you with hot water and various treats so that the discomfort is reduced while he sits next to you chatting with you or washing your hair.

"We could try this new shampoo, Jyushi recommended it to me for you" he spreads the product gently over your scalp, pampering you in the process. The feeling of his hands and the heat of the bathtub has a positive effect on your pain.

° No matter how much he hid it, several times he asked Jakurai for the best way to help you and sometimes, those calls were in the middle of the night while he took note of everything the doctor said. You accidentally discovered the notebook where he writes it down but you decided to keep it a secret.

° He comforts you with massages, applying the necessary pressure on your back to relieve tension. Even if you are lying on your side and as compressed as possible, he will make sure to give you a good massage session.

° He tries not to kiss you while the pain lasts because he doesn't think that will help you much, but seeing you so bad, he can't channel his feeling of compassion and support in any other way than leaving the occasional solitary kiss on your cheeks, which at times They manage to warm your heart and distract your body.

° Your tears destroy his self-control and tranquility, gently wiping them away activates his emergency protocol. He gives you medicine and holds you until you fall asleep or the pain subsides, always wiping away any tears that may continue to come.

"The pills will take effect now, yes? I promise it will happen faster than you think" his hands caress your back giving you comfort "you're doing well..." he can repeat these phrases as if they were a prayer or a lullaby, the smell of his skin gives you peace and eventually you will fall asleep.

[amoristt]

Alive | König/Reader

anon: hello i see u do requests for mw2 now! can i request konig being sent on a hostage rescue mission, and when he gets there he finds of them is his partner (reader), who went MIA months ago and was presumed dead?

a/n: i hope you like it! sorry if the german is wrong i had to use google translate gffjhdgjfh

reblogs + tags and replies will make my entire day as i put a lot of effort into this :)! it also helps motivate me!

story continues beneath the read more. let me know if you can’t access it!

want to support me? heres my kofi!

Besides the frequent chatter of voices emerging from the radio on his tactical belt, there is a cold silence that blankets the halls König travels down. Years spent training in the force had taught him well to be light on his feet despite his size, eyes focused on every micromovement in front of him. A rat scurries from a pile of crates on the floor and into a vent. Flies gather at the swinging lamps overhead. It feels like the hallways are endless. 

“König, position?” A voice rings from the device. He offers a short response. 

“West wing.”

“Anything yet?”

“Nein.”

Faintly, voices echoed down corridors. He’d entered the base like a ghost in the night, and mowed down every enemy that stood in his way. This was his specialty, after all, and this wasn’t his first rodeo in gutting out the base of human traffickers. However, this was the first time in a long time. The last time he’d been sent to a hostage rescue, there were… issues. He remembered it almost all too clearly. The worst night of his life thus far.

You’d gone in first despite his protests, and that was it. He had been too far away, minutes behind you. Moments later the building was up in flames, with your poor soul trapped inside. König hadn’t known peace since that moment, an ocean of turmoil overtaking him. The sight of glowing embers raining down over him as he stood, helpless, on the sidelines.

You’d been presumed dead the moment the monumental flames could have practically knocked at heaven's door.

Even despite his rank, his team had to damn near peel him away from the scene. Never had he felt pain like that in his entire life.

Until, the next morning, that was. When his weary eyes opened to see nothing but his dull ceiling, and he realized the night before hadn’t been some awful nightmare. 

It took weeks for him to regain enough composure to properly work again. But, in some ways, he felt like he never left that night. Sometimes he felt he was still there- staring up at the monstrous glowing flames and fighting to not think about how you spent your last moments.

After months, he'd agreed to another rescue mission. Perhaps a win, perhaps saving someone, may put some of his demons to bed.

He passes doors upon doors, all blown wide open as evidence of men fleeing his approach. Scattered papers line the floors, chairs knocked to their sides. Window's thrown open with little care.

One door, however, gathers his attention almost instantly. The way it was shut tight with a deadbolt locked on practically begged for him to investigate. He reaches out and makes quick work of breaking the metal bolt, hearing the metal clatter to the floor. Tentatively, he twists the knob and shoves it open, weapon ready to fire. Inside, a cluster of women gather in the far corner, eyes as wide as owls, fingers all clutching each other in fear. 

“I’ve found them,” He says into his radio, taking a head count. “Three of them. West wing, fifth door to the left.”

“Intel says there’s a fourth.” Comes back the answer, and he frowns, peering through his mask to recount. “We’re sending in reinforcements.”

König lowers his weapon cautiously and counts again, just in case. Just as before, it’s three women, all frightened beyond belief. He steps to the side and motions for them to exit the room, knowing his teammates were bounding towards the room and would be able to lead them to the safety of their vehicles outside. As they filter past him one by one, he doesn’t miss the glance one of them takes towards the closet at the other end of the room before darting into the hall. Quietly, he takes steps towards it, lifting his weapon. He could practically sense a presence from within, eyes narrowed, creeping closer and closer. 

Without even bothering to demand the person inside to come out, he grasps the door and tears it open, his gun pointing directly inside, his hulking figure shadowed by the ceiling lamp behind him. The flashlight on his gun beams over a figure inside. The person’s hands are over their face to escape the blinding light. He could see purple bruises on their elbows, finger marks on their biceps.

The fourth hostage. 

“Go on. Go.” He says quickly, lowering his gun. He expects the hostage to turn tail and run, rip past him and scurry down the trashed halls to their freedom. But, instead, they lower their hands, big eyes gaping up at him. His heart nearly seizes as he makes out the person's features.

“König?” Your voice is a strange version of soft. Afraid, confused, relieved. You’re frozen in place, holding your hands to your chest, as if you can’t believe the sight before you. As if you can't believe it’s really, truly. him.

But it is. 

König’s actions move faster than the speed of his thoughts. His gun is slung behind his shoulder, his hands find your arms and he’s pulling you out from the confines of your hiding spot. His mind is reeling, his fingers shake, he can’t hear anything other than his heartbeat and the soft sounds you make as he practically crushes you against him. Time stands still for a moment. The flickering yellow of the hanging light pauses. He breathes into your hair and the scent of you almost has him losing his composure. There isn’t even time for tears to gather in his water lines when he squeezes his eyes shut and clutches you to him, so close, afraid if he lets go you’ll disappear all over again. 

“Du bist lebendig, du bist lebendig.” The desperation in his voice is more than apparent. He can barely even think. “I thought I lost you, meine Liebe, Ich dachte, du wärst tot.” 

German spills from his lips in a warble, all the little things he’d thought he’d never get to say to you again. His lungs heave as he rambles, feeling your arms wrap around him. He’s sure his words are barely even meeting your ears, but he doesn’t care. 

From his belt, his radio calls out to him. Two voices now, both demanding to know his current position and why he hadn’t been answering. He has to force himself to pull away from you to answer, and it nearly hurts as you leave his embrace, his voice harsh and shaky.

“I’ve found ___,” He remarks frantically, his free hand clutching your shoulder. “She’s alive, mein Gott, she’s here.” 

“___?” A male voice chirps over the line. "She's alive?"

König breathes, nods as if they can see him. His hand flattens over your back and tugs you back into him. “Ja, I’ve got her. Coming back now." He presses his lips to your head through the thin fabric of his mask. “I’ve got you.”

He nestles his radio back into its place and wastes no time scooping you into his arms. He knows his hold is almost too tight, likely uncomfortable against the severe amount of bruising littering your body, but he couldn't help himself. You were right there. Alive. 

Alive, and clinging to him like he was your lifeline, like if you didn’t wrap your fingers around whatever you could manage to grasp, he’d drop you and you’d fall back into that awful place. He rushes down the halls with a newfound urgency, frantic to leave this horrible place as a memory. Frantic to get you back to where you belong. 

König could feel you peering up at him, taking in the intensity of his eyes as he used his shoulder to shove open the door to your freedom. The cold outside bites at him, but he welcome the feeling, the dirt shifting under his large boots and he picks up pace. 

“I’ve got you.” He says again, into the crisp air, and he feels you nod quickly, surely unable to find the energy to respond. In the distance he can see the calvary waiting for him. The hostages were loaded into a larger buggy while he took to a smaller vehicle. His lungs heave as he runs with you, heart thrashing in his large ribcage. His teammate throws open the door of the vehicle and he’s quick to load you inside. You limply lean against him as he settles in beside you, arm wrapped tight around your shoulder to keep you up right. With a yank, he rips his gloves him his hands, presses his palms into your skin to feel you, really feel you.

Even with your bruises, even when your marks and scrapes, you're just as soft as he remembered. You're everything he remembered. Everything he thought he'd never get to have ever again.

As you look up at him, he blinks down at you with misty eyes. His fingers pull hair from your face and tuck the strands behind your ears. When you smile at him, König feels a boulder lodge itself in his throat. Try as he may to gag it down, his efforts are fruitless, and he bumps his forehead against yours. 

The tears he’d been running from bite at the corners of his eyes as the vehicle rolls to the a start. You let your body relax against him, his head falling back against the headrest, bare fingers petting over your skin. 

It's over, you're safe. He has you.

He kisses the top of your head as the vehicle roars down the open road, and billows of dirt clouds obscuring your prison before it disappeared all together under the night sky.

[gilbirda]

for the ask game: Danny Arkham Security Guard?

I've been curious where you're at with that for a while (I assumed the muse has fled and/or you're too busy with other fics), so had to pick that one when I saw it on the list 👀

From this WIP ask game

Haha! I knew someone would ask about it!

Honestly I have struggled a lot with picking this bad boy up... When I finally did a few months ago, the last edit was July 2022 😭

Long story short, summer 2022 was the time I really went down the spiral with Hardcover ship and literally every idea I had was for those two. I think what happened was that I realized there was an untapped potential and market for romance and all the classic romance tropes in DP fandom (I understood why that was the case, but still I was frustrated because I hadn't seen a single fic that made me crazy about any ship in DP) and it left me wanting.

Then I wrote Arkham Guard Danny and I did the bit where Jazz almost shoots Jason, and then I liked the dynamics between him and the siblings and I literally said in the AN if I ended up shipping him, I was debating between Jazz and Danny. *laughs in irony*

So basically I went "what if I write every romance story trope but Jazz/Jason?" and the rest is history.

And every damn time I went back to Arkham Guard Danny, I re read it and realized.... Is just so bad. I saw flaws everywhere. I saw bad characterization. I saw "angry robin Jason" and a bunch of things I don't stand by anymore and I felt like there was no way I could continue that fic and the difference wouldn't be felt. Was I too harsh with myself? Absolutely, but we are our worst critic.

Also? I felt the project running away from me. I started developing worldbuilding and ideas and I got mad because Arkham Guard is supposed to be simple. It used to be the "simple fic" I did while I focused on my magnum opus for DP fandom (Eldritch Ghost King Danny AU - "You and me and our best friend makes three"). If it got complicated I didn't want to write it anymore. And then it did and I dropped it.

Recently I went through a really bad situation and it kind of killed any want to write for dpxdc. I thought - why not go back to the basics? Revisit what really made me start in the fandom, what made me get a bunch of comments like "i got into dpxdc because of this fic". Took me back to when I started, how simple it felt to just write a fic and drop it to the ether and not worry about the things that made me want to stop forever.

So I did. Feels good to pick this up again!

I could go on forever but I won't continue rambling about this project (✿◡‿◡)

If you read up to this point, here's a little bit of what I have so far!

---

“Children,” Alfred stood from his seat, positioning himself between the brothers and their guest. “Let her breathe.”

“It’s okay, Mr. — uh…” She blushed as she realized she never asked for his name.

“Alfred,” the butler smiled, “Alfred Pennyworth.”

“Mr. Pennyworth,” she nodded politely. “I’m fine. I am aware that after that… theatrical spectacle, explanations are needed.”

“Indeed.” Batman cut in the conversation. “Proper explanations are in order. After I deliver the Joker to Arkham.”

“You can’t be serious!” Did the old man go crazy? Back to that wretched place?

Jazz frowned, seemingly sharing his thoughts. She leaned closer to the microphone and spoke in a controlled voice. “Where are you delivering him? In the hospital.”

Bruce took way too long to answer, so Tim did it for him. “Through the front door?”

Jazz didn’t find it funny. “Wait for me.”

“What?”

“I said, wait for me.” Jazz reached for her discarded jacket, eyeing the door to the elevator back to the manor. “Joker is my patient and I need to be there.”

“What for?”

She turned to look at Jason. “He doesn’t deserve to be left at the mercy of some of the people in the Asylum. They could—”

“He can rot for all I care.”

The vigilante walked up to her, getting in her way and using his height and build to scare her into submission. Jazz held his gaze, defiant, muscles tense and ready to throw down if needed.

“You don’t know that place like I do.”

Jason huffed. “Whatever the inmates want to do to him, he deserves it.”

“I wasn’t talking about the inmates.” Her teal eyes steeled with fury. “Arkham has a history of staff abusing their authority.”

[thefirstknife]

Some important stuff in regards to the harassment of developers came from Bungie today. They won a lawsuit against a guy who repeatedly harassed a community manager and his family (not fully confirmed in the official document, but people are fairly certain this is about A_dmg and his family). This is a twitter thread from the lawyer who went into some details about the situation. The court document is also available to read (featuring some of the horrific harassment tactics that were motivated by racism and also used racism as part of the harassment so be advised if you want to read).

This isn't just a win for the individual community manager and Bungie, but also has potential to set a bigger precedent in the future. It's basically the first time this has been done to this extent and some ruling in this case made it clear that companies can pursue this sort of legal action in the future if their employees are harassed and threatened. This is HUGE because the protection of employees in the gaming industry has been abysmal otherwise. This case will allow for the company to file a lawsuit on behalf of their employees in cases of harassment.

Before I add some of the more heinous stuff about this situation below, I want to say that the majority of reactions to this are positive. People are happy that this happened as it did and a lot of people are excited about potential big influence this will have in the future to combatting harassment of this type in the gaming industry.

Extra details and thoughts below (racism tw):

This started because the community manager highlighted a black content creator, Uhmayyze, who is himself a victim of harassment more often than not (usually of racist nature). He is most often harassed because he is unapologetically positive for which people have continuously sent him awful shit and comments. Because he enjoys the game and isn't jumping on the hate train. Just recently he commended Bungie for a ban wave and had hundreds of people hound him on twitter for his comment, including Gladd who started it by specifically replying to Uhmayyze and putting him on blast (warning for a lot of gross comments, including photoshopped screenshots of fake discord texts to make Uhmayyze look bigoted, nsfw images, r slur, suicide baiting and so on). This is important because the incident of real life harassment was fuelled over a community manager highlighting a content creator that is himself being harassed and despised online for the crime of... being positive. And you know, for being black. This situation isn't an isolated incident. The community, including other content creators, are absolutely horrible towards this one person that they feel, I guess, does not follow the content creator NPC questline of hating Bungie and Destiny.

So of course, at some point, someone from that crowd will feel confident and justified taking things further. How dare Bungie promote this person they hate. How dare they focus on a positive creator. They're clearly biased and don't want to listen to criticism, only to "toxic positivity" streamer. How dare a community manager highlight this creator. It's a personal slight to them, and "proof" that Bungie is bad and evil and "ignoring criticism." There's someone out there (and probably not the only one) that hates this creator and the game so much they were willing to harass and threaten a community manager and his family in real life.

The community manager was first harassed by phone with text messages and voice mails featuring racist bile, including apparently a voice mail telling him to "convince Bungie to create options in its game in which only persons of color would be killed." This is the worst part for me and super concerning in general, as well as showing the dedication of this person to racism, motivated by his hatred of a black creator (which also, by proxy, technically makes the streamer being harassed as well). Absolutely ghoulish behaviour.

This escalated to also harassing the CM's wife and resulted in doxing them; the harasser somehow found their address. Most of the reports on this will say that the asshole "sent them pizza" which doesn't truly capture how horrific the incident was. First, it's a random guy who has your address which is concerning enough given that he harasses you by phone already. Apparently the pizza was made to be "inedible" and the delivery was instructed to bang loudly on the door upon arrival to maximise discomfort. The order was also deliberately made to be paid on delivery to create as much pain for the victims as possible. The harasser also kept track of the delivery and then called the family again when it was done to tell them to "enjoy the pizza." The family immediately contacted Bungie who contacted the police and provided the family with protection. There's no telling how this would've escalated had they not been in the position to call Bungie and had Bungie not reacted to them asking for help. It's absolutely crucial here that Bungie is the type of a company willing to immediately assist in this situation.

Immediately following that, Bungie organised a long and expensive manhunt to identify the harasser and bring them court. That's where most of the expenses went; finding the culprit and protecting the employee and his family. This is the money Bungie earned back by this court decision because they could prove that the expenses were caused by a person harassing and threatening their employee.

This is a big win overall for the whole industry. It's Bungie setting a precedent on how a company should protect its employees. No matter what people think about Bungie or big corporations or whatever, this is how you can use a lot of money and power to make sure that your workers have rights to decency and safety. That's huge for the rights of workers and worker protections. I hope it becomes a standard and that any future harassment is prevented altogether or at least punished accordingly.

Naturally, the commentary on the news from a big part of the community is super positive. Unfortunately, there's also a part of the community that has a lot of really awful shit to say about this. The comments on twitter are littered with people who are using THIS specific moment to yell about Bungie being a greedy corporation, how the money they won should be used to "fix the servers" and "make more pvp maps" or how Bungie will greedily put this money "into Eververse" or "into Marathon." There's comments about how time was uselessly spent protecting an employee who should expect harassment anyway, instead of working on "fixing the game."

This is what I mean when I talk about how impossible it is in the current situation to have a meaningful discussion about any sort of criticism or feedback. There's thousands of comments from people who think that this specific instance shows how Bungie is greedy. This is what I mean when I say that none of these people actually understand what they're talking about. You can't make proper criticism when you can't separate game development with a company's legal effort to stop an escalating harassment campaign of an employee. The majority of gamers are simply not fit to offer any criticism or feedback. The idea that we all have something useful to say and that employees at Bungie are obliged to give us their time of the day is simply incorrect.

I genuinely 100% stand by the claim that the recent barrage of content creators promoting the idea that Bungie is "the greediest company in the world that's scamming players and increasing costs out of greed" as well as the idea that Bungie is "abandoning Destiny for Marathon, isn't working on the game anymore and is deliberately ruining it" is the reason for these comments existing. If a big streamer said that Bungie is getting too much money but also not doing anything "good" with it, then any money that Bungie receives (including compensation for expenses they took to protect an employee from active harm) is a result of greed. The nuance of any situation is lost; when you only learn the mantra of "company has money therefore company bad" you WILL end up causing harm for people and you will most definitely not be an advocate of workers rights. That's where we're at right now.

The dehumanisation of people who work at Bungie (and the harassment itself) is a consequence of this crap and other similar crap that's been thrown into the ether for the past year, disguised as "we're just offering feedback." People heard that Bungie is a "microtransaction hell" and that Bungie is only investing in Eververse and Marathon and they feel like this story reflects that; they feel like an employee being harassed is not deserving of proper condemnation and that this isn't important enough and that Bungie is a greedy corpo anyway so who cares about that. They do not understand how companies work, how games are made, the state of the industry as a whole (or the world as a whole), the treatment of employees or workers' rights, and you cannot meaningfully critique a company's business practices without understanding that. And they don't because they think that legal expenses used to protect victims, finding a culprit and bringing their ass to court is money that is being used for game development and that Bungie receiving this money should result in... new pvp maps or "fixed servers."

And there's even seemingly good commentary where people recognise how this is good, but they initiate the comment with "As much as I hate Bungie and Destiny and I think they're awful and greedy and destroying gaming as a whole..." : that's not the time and place. You don't have to excuse your support of a big win for potential new employee protection policies just because those policies are done by a company. Of course it is. Companies are the only ones capable of pursuing this sort of legal action. It's one good way a big company can put their power and money into a good place to actually help people and bring forth positive change. And like, you don't have to tell us how much you despise Bungie before you're "allowed" to admit that this is good news. Sometimes companies do good stuff. It's literally not that complicated.

I hope that this situation will help other employees demand the same protection, that other companies will follow suit and that this will also make potential other harassers rethink whether or not they will engage in this or similar type of behaviour. In the meantime, know that the community is largely positive about this, but that there are still absolutely detestable human beings who should feel ashamed of their reaction to this. They shouldn't feel welcome here. And there's still people doing this to the devs and I hope Bungie takes their asses to court too.

[innerchorus]

Arslan Senki Chapter 129 (Part 1)

Okay, I had a fun time reading this one, despite the face off between Team Arslan and Team Hilmes it felt way lower stakes than the encounter with Zahhak so I was able to relax in the (correct) assumption that nobody was about to die just yet.

Early moment of appreciation for the attention to detail in Arakawa's storytelling. Yes, corvids cawing like this is frequently used as a sign of something ominous (and it certainly feels that way as another panel shows them atop this tower with Hilmes stood below) but I love that they have a reason for doing so in that they've spotted a hawk (Azrael!) circling above and are giving the alarm.

Sam's chin has gone full rectangle.

This is his reaction upon hearing how Team Arslan got in (yes, through the very waterways he'd been defending, Hilmes should've listened to Zandeh, but Hilmes hasn't been in the mood for listening to his followers as of late, has he?)

HILMES NO.

This is him trying to recover the situation, I guess.

Anyway no doubt you guys recognise Daryun's helmet on the left there, and he's about to jump in but Arslan holds him back in order to handle matters himself. He's the opposite of Hilmes throughout, calm and composed where Hilmes is shaken and erratic. The contrast is important and becomes starker as the scene goes on.

I feel bad but I laughed at Hilmes's expressions so many times this chapter, but I think it's only because I was feeling confident that no real harm will come to him? He really is having the worst day. Asking Arslan what legitimacy he has was a mistake because Arslan brandishes none other than Rukhnabad.

And thanks to Hilmes's tomb robbing adventure, the majority of the soldiers present recognise it, as does Zandeh (boy is shocked, he thought that thing was gone for good!)

I'm not sure Zandeh's had time to process any of this fully, but he saw what happened when Hilmes tried to take the blade at Mount Damavand. For Arslan to turn up with the blade and claim it's Kaykhusraw's will... No wonder he looks so shocked. It really does pose a challenge to Hilmes's claim.

Hilmes begins an attempt to defend his position by starting to reveal the truth about Arslan's parentage, when...

He falters, and misreads Arslan's composure as a sign that Arslan knows Hilmes's own secret.

Man, I fucking love this. Hilmes, who couldn't bear to share the burden of that secret with even his most loyal followers, cannot comprehend that Arslan has done just that. Arslan's calm demeanour comes from having done so; he has found his resolve with the truth out in the open, and it's part of what enables him to confront Hilmes like this.

Arslan addressing Hilmes as 'cousin' and then being all 'wait, that's not right' all but confirms to Hilmes that his suspicions are correct, but in truth Arslan is correcting himself because he already knows that he is not Andragoras's son. What Hilmes was threatening to reveal holds no power over Arslan, yet the effect that fearing his secret is out has on Hilmes is clear, and it makes him desperate.

Zandeh being all ??? when if Hilmes had just told him he could've had the reassurance that Zandeh would continue to support him no matter what 😭

Anyway, both Narsus and Arslan notice how unsettled Hilmes is, though they don't know why nobody cares about your fucking secret except you, Hilmes. And because Hilmes is so rattled, he calls for Arslan to fight him. Honestly, it's not a bad choice and even if he weren't so flustered about what Arslan may or may not know he likely would have done so, but his mental state going into it is already working against him.

Him ordering Arslan to face him with Rukhnabad is also not a bad shout. I imagine he's both hedging his bets and hoping that Arslan doesn't really have Kaykhusraw's favour, and assuming his odds against Arslan when it comes to a duel are good in any case.

The Rukhnabad twist I didn't predict! And just wait for the full reveal! But first I want to remind you of this moment from Chapter 93 where Hilmes speaks with the Master after having failed to retrieve the sword for himself:

Arslan's words can only remind him of his own failure.

He's definitely on the back foot here now; Arslan not only has Rukhnabad in his possession, but he's also bold enough to claim he will defeat Hilmes without it.

Now, if you had said to me that Arslan will face Hilmes without Rukhnabad and actually stand a chance of winning, I would have dismissed it as unbelievable. But that's where Arakawa's careful attention to Hilmes's inner fears has come into play, and combined with Arslan's (accidental) further shaking of his confidence and (deliberate) provocation by saying he's not worthy of using Rukhnabad on... How well will he fight? Combat begins before swords are even drawn, it seems.

Also ARSLAN STILL CANNOT DRAW RUKHNABAD JSHDFJSDHGG wow, honestly did not see that coming, what a bluff that was—

Presumably that means we will see him gain the ability to draw the sword when it comes to a fight against Zahhak? Or maybe there will be time for him to visit Kaykhusraw's tomb before then (since it seems less likely it's already happened)?

Narsus declaring that it's Hilmes's decree that this duel will decide who will be Shah is a smart move, too. There are those with personal grudges and those who may seek to object, but with the decision framed this way, they cannot. Alfarid knows too much is at stake. Sam can't go against Hilmes's own word.

Now here's a match where I feel we all already know what the outcome will be. ZANDEH PLEASE. I don't want you to get hurt.

I do appreciate Daryun still responding to him with tired exhasperation, though. It's like 'really, we're still doing this?'. And I'm just clinging on to the fact that it's clear he wouldn't hold a grudge if Zandeh just fucked off somewhere other than Pars like to Maryam with Hilmes.

I'm just relying on Zandeh to agree to let it drop in the end. If Hilmes does, Zandeh would too, I think.

Anyway, while I don't think he'll be able to beat Daryun, this is the first time he's facing him with a mace, a weapon he has acknowledged is better suited to his strength, so maybe he won't do as badly as I feared?

That's it for Part 1! Stay tuned for Part 2!

[arlo-venn]

The cabin was really cool and I liked it a lot, but we didn’t even get settled in before Arlo started scratching and I found fleas in the loft. The guy was fucking WEIRD about it and I no longer felt safe there (alone on a wooded property in the middle of no where with no service in the Catskills), so I packed everything back into the car and left. Which makes it all sound a lot simpler than it was.

I had his help via a golf cart and a wagon to get my stuff (heavy cooler, giant paddleboard case, multiple backpacks, etc etc) on the way in, but on the way out I no longer trusted him so I had to do it all on my own. In the heat. There was a hill. I survived. I have a migraine coming on as repercussions though. I’m in a hotel now instead, staying for two nights instead of one which was not in the budget but I’m going to need time to physically recover from the fiasco.

so in short I told him there were fleas, he didn’t believe me, he insists that it’s not possible bc no animals have been in there in over a month, didn’t believe me that they can be brought in by humans and mice. (There were also mice turds which he acknowledged; I didn’t care about that, it’s a tiny cabin in the middle of the woods that’s rarely inhabited, of course there are mice but like HELLO those are animals.) He wasn’t just gaslighting me his vibe went all weird about it. And before *I* even became concerned about his behavior, about a minute beforehand, Arlo suddenly didn’t like him anymore, either. He was fine around him going in. His vibe changed when he came to check for the fleas and Arlo was barking and lunging at him a lot, when he wasn’t, he was firmly positioned between my legs with his eyes dead set on him, which isn’t something I ever even trained him to do.

Then he started saying well maybe your dog brought them in. And like, he was just very thoroughly checked his whole body over when he was out for the dental and they found the skin infection. There were no fleas. We haven’t been in the woods or anything since. He’s on flea meds. He wasn’t itching himself at all until we got into the cabin. I wasn’t itchy until I got into the cabin. I saw fleas within milliseconds of climbing into that loft. They were there. He changed the bedding and sprayed the whole place down with rubbing alcohol (too much to keep a dog in a confined space in), claimed he saw no fleas. I placated him, told him I was putting my stuff in the car to lessen the chances of carrying anything over and that I was leaving to go find somewhere to buy flea shampoo. Then I left, drove until I had service again, and messaged him about why I left and wouldn’t be returning. I haven’t fully read his responses because I’m protecting my vibe lol but from the previews I saw him continue to gaslight me and then in a separate text he said “You left without warning.”

No I didn’t, I told him I was leaving the property to go get shampoo.

I don’t have to report my comings and goings to this man and I don’t have to be honest with him about where I’m actually going, the fuck

That’s the really abridged version. Oh AND I KEPT telling him Arlo doesn’t like other dogs and he still just let his roam freely and approach him and stuff so we couldn’t even use the land we paid for anyway. The rules said “off leash, on leash, depends who’s there” which lead me to believe that other dogs that don’t know how to give space would be leashed if necessary. Anyway, the biggest issue was that I stopped trusting him and my only connection to the outside world was his wifi that he could turn off at any time. I watch a lot of true crime lol and Arlo is scary but no match for things like guns so he’s not a foolproof protection method.

hotel’s fun. Arlo’s first elevator ride. He looooves whatever they use to wash their linens. Migraines getting worst gotta jet lol

[trickstarbrave]

wip of the cnc fic 🧍

voryn is trans in this. and again this is cnc. they are roleplaying but it will read like. SA.

Voryn had his wrists bound tightly, laid out on a torture table, unable to move. Even worse was the fact as he was strapped down his willpower was drained completely, along with his strength for good measure. He couldn’t muster up a single spell, even though he had the magicka reserves, and wouldn’t be able to cast anything until it was restored. 

He was helpless, and that fact only infuriated him. The most he could do was struggle weakly like an injured animal, gritting his teeth.

Worst of all, Voryn knew why he was here. And that reason only infuriated him more.

The door opened, Nerevar Mora waltzing in humming softly, a content grin on his face. He seemed to take great joy in how Voryn was strapped to the table and glaring at him. 

“My, isn’t this a pleasant sight…” Nerevar’s eyes roamed up and down him, taking in the view with a kind of sick want that had Voryn shuddering. 

Voryn had refused to name Nerevar as Hortator of House Dagoth, a fact that had incensed the former canvasari. Voryn saw no purpose in it--House Dagoth didn’t care about things like unity, nor did Nerevar make a convincing enough case for how a united chimer front would genuinely help them against the nords. The former canvasari told him he’d regret this decision, but Voryn had brushed him off. 

At Nerevar’s appearance though, still eying him like a hunk of meat, Voryn spat in his face. He could see the anger dart across Nerevar’s features, before he closed his eyes and exhaled, wiping it off. He then grabbed Voryn by the jaw firmly, a cold anger in his eyes. 

“Don’t make me gag you.” Nerevar warned. “It would be a shame to make me, Voryn.” 

“Don’t call me that so familiarly.” Voryn growled. At that, Nerevar laughed.

“I think you and I are about to get well acquainted with one another.” Nerevar replied with a cocky grin.

“Do you think this will get you what you want?” Voryn was still glaring, far from intimidated. “Torture will not work on me.” Though to be honest, Voryn didn’t expect Nerevar to have the delicacy for torture. You couldn’t use brute force, after all; no no, torture was an art. It took real skill, care, and patience to bend someone to your will with pain. Voryn imagined he’d give in after an hour or two and just kill Voryn, hoping the problem would go away. “And you can’t just kill me like you did with House Telvanni’s head. If I die, the position will go to one of my brothers, all of whom are loyal to me.” 

Nerevar continued smirking sadistically though, still holding his jaw. “Oh, I have no plans to kill you.” With his other hand Nerevar grabbed a dagger from his belt. Voryn tensed on instinct, before the blade was lowered to the belt and ties holding his robes closed. In an instant the delicate fabric was cut by the sharp blade, exposing his body. 

A different kind of fear ran through Voryn this time as he began to struggle more. 

“Be careful,” Nerevar’s smirk had become a maddened grin watching the terror cross Voryn’s features, “You don’t want me to cut you by accident, do you?” Just to prove a point he let the knife nick Voryn’s chest, Voryn hissing. Then, Nerevar tossed the knife onto the table nearby, leaning down to run his tongue along the small cut, ripping the fabric off the rest of the way. 

“Get off of me this instant!” Voryn growled, his face flushed red in both rage and humiliation. 

“Gods, your body is gorgeous…” Nerevar hummed again while pressing wet kisses to his skin, completely undeterred. “It’s such a shame you hide it away under such heavy robes all the damn time.” 

Voryn managed to get one of his ankles free--it seemed he wasn’t strapped down quite as well as he should have been, and took the opportunity to try and kick Nerevar right in the groin. However, Nerevar caught his leg, his hand no doubt going to leave bruises in its wake. 

“Behave.” Nerevar made direct eye contact with him again, his tone showing what a warlord he was. He was brutish, cruel, and terrible. Voryn grit his teeth, still shaking. 

It was infuriating. Infuriating, infuriating, infuriating! Was all he could do really just lay there like a helpless maiden and be assaulted? Raped by this brute who called himself Azura’s champion?!

Nerevar undid Voryn’s loincloth next, all but ripping it off him, before whistling appreciatively. He used Voryn’s free leg to spread his thighs with ease given his strength.

“Look at that…” Nerevar was gawking openly now, a pleased smirk once again on his face. “Such an attractive body…” He ran his hand down Voryn’s stomach, following the trail of hair, coaxing another shudder out of Voryn. Something was bubbling away in his stomach though, something equal parts shame and something he dare not name. 

“Oh,” Nerevar gasped softly, his fingers finally finding Voryn’s sex. “Nice and wet, aren’t you?”

The touch felt electric, his cunt aching for more. It felt like his body wasn’t listening to him, daring to get turned on by such a bastard having his way with him. He was disgusted with himself, humiliation once again kicking in as he couldn’t even control his own body. He attempted to jerk his leg away, but Nerevar held it firm.

“Stop touching me,” Voryn hissed through his teeth. “Get off me—get the fuck off me—!”

Voryn’s head fell back in a moan, his back arching as Nerevar firmly slapped his cunt, the sensation amazing on his cock. It felt good—only a slight jolt of pain that was entirely overwhelmed by the pure pleasure of the impact. His body trembled as he realized he’d moaned, eyes shut tight and gritting his teeth, even his ears red from the humiliation. 

“Filthy little masochist.” Nerevar repeated the motion again, taunting him. “Does the rest of your house know what a little whore you are?” Voryn tried to suppress the moans as Nerevar rubbed back and forth against his dick. The pressure was firm, just edging into pain again, before another slap followed.

“You’ve got such a cute cock.” Nerevar was leaning over him again, this time whispering in his ear. “Nice and hard for me, aren’t you…?”

“I’ll make you pay for this, you dog.” Voryn grit his teeth. “I’ll fucking kill yo--” Voryn was cut off with another slap to his cunt, moaning and whining from the sensation. 

“I don’t need to take that from a bitch in heat who's enjoying this.” Nerevar licked up the shell of his ear now. “So why don’t you shut that pretty little mouth of yours before I make you?”

[mxtxfanatic]

Fandom Gripe #15: there’s this thing that I’ve noticed (particularly now that I’m rereading through tgcf fics) where people seem to assume that mxtx love interests have no lives outside of their devotion to the main characters. And while this is a particularly funny idea given the fact that characters who wholly dedicate themselves to another character permanently die in mxtx novels (Zhuzhi-lang, Su Shi), it’s just completely untrue otherwise and a very ungenerous take on love in general.

The people who get the worst of this treatment are usually Lan Wangji and Hua Cheng because fans like to tie all of their autonomous actions and decisions into their love for the MCs. I see this written as a problem way less with Luo Binghe because svsss is…different (probably because the audience is privy to Luo Binghe’s life without love and it sucks, so it’s easier to accept that he really does just want to sit under his lover and play house all day lol). Anyways, for the other two, the “Lan Wangji spent 13 years playing inquiry!” or “Lan Wangji only went where the chaos was because he thought he was hunting Wei Wuxian’s spirit!” fanon tropes portray Lan Wangji as a love interests who would have been happy being mired in grief for the rest of his life, rather than his canon self who grieved but accepted that his love was dead and that didn’t mean he couldn’t move on. Same with Hua Cheng: people brush off his achievements as Ghost King and act like he just spent 800 years twiddling his thumbs and building a house for Xie Lian to eventually move in to, despite him clearly not anticipating Xie Lian’s returned affections or continued companionship (and this also ignoring that part of Hua Cheng’s 800-year-wait was spent not remembering Xie Lian). He was willing to let the man go on with life without him, but fanon has shifted this into Hua Cheng essentially fridging himself until Xie Lian ascends again. None of the canon reads as “these characters are nothing without their lovers!” but “while we’d love to stand at our lovers’ sides, we can accept when we can’t because we are full people without them.”

And the fanon all adds up to this really weird sentiment that posits romantic love as almost a hinderance in the lives of the love interests, something that makes them “lesser” because all of their actions were “done in devotion to another,” and while, as explained above, that is simply untrue, that’s a really sad take on love. That love is enough to rewrite someone’s morals, personality, wants and interests, and one is not their “true self” until they’ve been removed from it? That these characters are “nothing” without it and so must be forcefully given hobbies and friends by well-intentioned fix-its in case they ever fall out of love, the supposed desired “default”? Idk, I’d rather think that mxtx writes love as an enhancer rather than a completer, something that makes us more rather than making us whole, and that is not a weakness in need of fixing. Love should be seen as a choice that betters us, not a chain dragging down our better selves.