#(just in case someone might need it tagged for blacklisting purposes?)

[schnuffel-danny]

fully intend to open a pandora's box w this but i srsly want to know your thoughts on jack/vlad

They are my Blorbos. They are my Angels. They are my Stars, my Sky and my Moon. They shine a bright light from within my heart and- ALRIGHT that's enough of that. I like them a normal amount.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to properly formulate my thoughts on them, there is so much going on with these two (or, most likely, I’m just being sick in the head). On one hand, they are peak comedy; the idea of them being a couple in any capacity is absolutely hilarious. They’re both braindead to a terrifying degree in completely opposite directions, they’re a disaster duo through and through, in the event that they’re allowed to be together (both on good terms) for more than five minutes they’ll somehow manage to burn an entire city down, with Jack excitedly suggesting they make s’mores over the roaring fires of a local gas station. Vlad is on a never-ending quest to prove his intelligence and superiority, Jack doesn’t even really care what’s going on he just wants to prove that whatever it is he can do it. None of us would get out alive if this apocalyptic event of a relationship were to happen, not me, not you, not any of the mildly horrified yet incredibly amused bystanders. They’re the funniest ever.

Vlad spends as much time as possible talking about how much he hates Jack and how much he wants to fuck his wife. This man wants to rip Jack’s spine out and steal his wife and kids. Jack’s kids consider Vlad to be the devil himself and his wife is at best indifferent towards him. Yet, forever oblivious, Jack treats Vlad like he put the stars in the night sky one by one. They’re friends to lovers to exes to enemies to friends to lovers (to exes to maybe lovers) again, but they can’t even be that because the enemies thing is entirely one sided. Jack is so blinded by his nostalgic ideal of Vlad as a friend that he remains blissfully ignorant of Vlad’s murderous intentions towards him.

The entire concept of the villain somehow getting together with the hero’s dad, who absolutely refuses to see him for the walking red flag that he is, gives these two the potential to be the funniest cringe fail pairing in existence.

Before I even thought of anything else about these two I was captivated by their comedic potential, so captivated in fact that while I was happily stomping my feet in the shallow puddle of this ship’s depth I didn’t notice I'd tripped and fallen into a lake until I started drowning.

Thinking about them hurts. It’s about the memories. It’s about the love which, despite everything, remains the same. It’s about the familiar comfort that seems so unattainable now, even when it’s within reach. The burning hatred, the unanswered cries for help, the unspoken apologies, the yearning for things to go back to the way they were, the loneliness, the betrayal, the violence… It’s knowing nothing has changed. It’s knowing nothing is the same. It’s about looking at someone you hate more than anyone and only being able to think of the times he’s held you close and made you feel safe in the world. It’s about loving someone and only being able to think of how you were abandoned. It’s about seeing how neither of you has moved on and realizing that you can’t do anything about it, not at this point of your lives. You aren’t friends, you aren’t lovers, you aren’t enemies. No matter what one feels towards the other it can seemingly never be reciprocated in the same way. Love neither wins nor loses. Love remains at a stalemate. It burns the same it has for decades and you watch the flames dance, but neither reaches to warm their hands by the fire. Not anymore. Something about doing so feels wrong. Maybe you just aren’t ready yet. But it’s alright, you’re not worried about it going out anytime soon.

Conclusion: I hate them and I want them to die.

[raayllum]

It's hard to tell because it's only been some posts but you sound somewhat frustrated with pre-season discussions happening elsewhere for The Dragon Prince? In any case, I thought you might appreciate the note that some people certifiably do like Rayla and Callum as characters perfectly well (I know I do at least and have since the start)?

I'm sure you're aware of it already but it felt somewhat like it'd help you not feel like you're typing into a void of dissent for enjoying them and the show concurrently? Even if I'd disliked the time skip in some capacities (I didn't particularly, I thought Rayla had good instincts wanting proof of death etc she just perhaps should have taken more backup for higher success chances if at all possible) Stella's introduction would have won me over entirely anyway.

There's no shame in being easily charmed by adorable animal characters, after all! She really is cute and also useful in limited capacities, like Bait.

If you wanted an actual ask with the above I suppose that I'm intrigued how similarly you thought Bait and Stella functioned as extended powers/company of their respective people and in the group?

Mostly on twitter (which is a reason to stay off twitter) but, in all honesty, it's mostly because it's annoying to see people use ship names or main tags for their complaining (I have "tdp critical" blacklisted or whatever for a reason y'know). Like as someone who truly deeply loves every character and every part of the show, when Claudia or Terry or Aaravos or anyone else gets promo I'm thrilled and intrigued and theorizing. And there's a minimal but loud portion(s) of the fandom who are either currently expressing (or have a track record) of annoyance when Callum and Rayla, as main characters and as the show's consistently most developed dynamic (which, I want to stress, has been the case even in s1 and s2) dare to be main characters and have marketing, there's an uproar of complaining. (Again, not the majority, but still baffles me that it exists at all.)

It'd be like if I complained about ATLA being primarily about Aang, its main character, for the majority of the show's run because I thought Toph needed more of a character arc (she's the least developed of the gaang bc she comes in s2 and has a general self-acceptance arc that doesn't need a ton of steps, for ex).

Sometimes favourite characters are there to have minimal screentime, execute their story purpose, and highlight other characters' arcs. The divide between characters where that's generally understood (Gren, Lain, Tiadrin, Opeli) vs characters where it's not (Aaravos in S4/S5, Runaan) again irks me because of the inconsistency, and therefore bias accordingly affecting judgement. Which maybe isn't fair - most people, myself included, are in fandom as a hobby, and for some people that means not evaluating their biases and not wanting to adjust their expectations; I just can't imagine doing anything else

I think Bait mostly serves as emotional support to Ezran and a lil guy to Talk to for Callum (2x05, 4x02) when a human character wouldn't quite make sense or is gone (Rayla is his usual confidant, for example). Stella is more interesting to me from a structure standpoint as 1) a character connected to the Star arcanum who thus far doesn't really need to be, so I'm curious there and 2) a juxtaposition to post-timeskip Rayla's "we can't save everyone" that her big heart and soft insides is still there, and still something worth listening to.

[schizodiaries]

hi, i hope you're doing good! i just started a mental health/recovery sideblog to help me deal with my schizophrenia and did diagnoses, and i was wondering if you have any advice for running a blog like this? i really like how you use yours creatively, and i want to get the most out of my experiences <3

Hi there, I’m doing great. I hope you are doing fine as well.

I don’t know if I have much advice for making a mental health blog, but I can at least tell you how I like to run mine. Here’s what goes through my mind when considering what to post here on schizodiaries:

I like to reblog relatable posts, memes about mental health, resources, and informative posts about schizophrenia, coping skills, and general mental health topics.

Sometimes I like to use this blog as a journal to document my mental wellness journey. Be cautious about what you share though, make sure none of it is personal or sensitive information that someone could take advantage of (e.g. listing your triggers).

Having a tagging system is nice, I try to tag every post both for organization purposes and in case someone would like a certain topic blacklisted from their dashboard.

I personally try to steer away from drama and discourse, as it can be stressful for some people and myself, but that doesn’t mean I can’t offer my two cents on a topic every now and again.

I like to have a theme with all my blogs. You might have noticed my theme on this blog is the white rabbit. So I’ll occasionally reblog posts pertaining to white rabbits.

I’m still trying to get better at this, but accessibility is important to a lot of disabled people, so I’m trying to refrain from reblogging images without IDs. I don’t know how to write them myself so I rely on others to do it. I also try to refrain from formatting my posts with different colors or fonts.

If an original post “breaches containment” or starts getting weird comments you can always lock the post and prevent it from being reblogged. You can also do this with personal posts that you prefer not to be shared.

I’ve never had to deal with anon hate or hate comments, but my solution to it is to simply ignore and delete them. Block them if you need to. Don’t even give them the time of day or the attention they crave.

Most importantly, as cliche as this might sound, just have fun with it. I have a great time running this blog and interacting with the schizospec community. At no point should it feel stressful or uncomfortable running a mental health blog. If you need to take a break, please do so, and if it gets too much you can always delete the blog.

[pipipinyyy]

Explaining why I have added every song in my entire and very long Niragi playlist because I can and because over analyzing him is my passion (I usually update it from time to time but I'll do it with the current songs)

Completely self indulgent post, but I decided to share to feed my fellow Niragi stans (*˙︶˙*)☆*°

This is entirely based on my view of the songs and how I interpret them while thinking about Niragi. I'm aware that most of them have entirely different meanings, this is just for fun :) (Also sorry if my explanations don't make much sense, English is not my first language and I might make mistakes when trying to put my feelings and thoughts into words)

This may contain manga/s2 spoilers

Hayloft-Mother Mother: Vibes

Criminal-Britney Spears: The whole song describes him ("he is a sucker with a gun") and the fandom's obsession ("mama I'm in love with a criminal")

Daddy Issues-The Neighborhood: I feel like he would act like this, using the most vulnerable spots to pick on someone ("cry little girl, nobody does it like you do")

Psycho-Jin Dogg, OVER KILL: Vibes

Riot-Hollywood Undead: He'd definitely start a riot like he did in the 10 of hearts, burning and destroying anything that crosses his path

Bitches-Mindless Self Indulgence: He most likely thinks he's a total fuckboy and popular with girls since he can get almost anything he wants out of scarying people

Baby's on Fire-Die Antwoord: Vibes

Insane in the Brain-Cypress Hill: This man is being consumed by his own way of protecting himself

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing-Set It Off: Based on how he feels towards the people who hurt him in the past ("Listen, mark my words, one day, you will pay" "You've always been a huge piece of shit, if I could kill you, I would" "Karma is gonna come collect your debt")

Death no more-IC3PEAK: Vibes

Gasoline-I Prevail: Sort of similar to Riot, ("So burn it all down, burn it all down, I don't give a fuck")

Toxic-Britney Spears: The whole fandom knows how much of a piece of shit this dude can be, but we still find ourselves liking/enjoying his character (to an extent), a toxic addiction

Nice Guy-GRLwood: As much as I love this man, he'd use the "I'm a nice guy c'mon" card just to fuck. If he wants to, he'll get it, if he doesn't, he'll most likely get mad

Dernière danse-Indila: Vibes

TRRST-IC3PEAK: Mostly vibes, I kinda see this song as how he felt the first time he killed someone on purpose inside the borderlands ("mama they say I'm a terrorist, I did nothing wrong but I got on the blacklist")

Saint Bernard-Lincoln: Vibes

Nowhere To Run-Stegosaurus Rex: Being with him at the Beach would either be ignoring each other completely or a game of tag, no inbetween. If this man wants to kill you, he'll get his fun time out of it as well ("You're gonna die, I'm gonna kill you")

The House of Wolves-Bring Me The Horizon: Based on how he sees life after being consumed by his current mental state ("Show me a sign, show me a reason to give a solitary fuck about your god damn beliefs" "What you call faith, I call a sorry excuse")

Smells Blood-Kensuke Ushio: Vibes

SIU-Maretu: Similar to Daddy Issues, don't expect this man to be a therapist. If he sees anyone crying or panicking in or outside a game, he'd most likely tell them to suck it up, just like this song.

Judgement-Kensuke Ushio: Vibes

MONSTER ENERGY GUN!-KevinKempt: Vibes + He for sure has an energy drink addiction, specially pre-borderlands

HURT-1 800 PAIN: Vibes

Fear Is The Mind Killer-Zheani: Vibes

I Bet on Losing Dogs: Based on how I know Niragi is toxic, and most likely unsaveable of his deteriorating mental state, but I still have him as my biggest comfort character ("I bet on losing dogs, I know they're losing and I'll pay for my place")

Emo Boy-Ayesha Erotica: He's been in an emo phase (and maybe still is), the lyrics are pretty self explanatory, they describe us Niragi simps perfecrly ("come on fuck me emo boy")

Crybaby-Destroy Boys: Vibes

The Fox's Wedding-MASA Works DESIGEN: Vibes

You're a useless child-Kikuo: We don't know much about his past, but judging by the unstoppable bullying he's suffered, his parents didn't care about him, or were straight up absent. He's been insulted by pretty much everyone in his past to the point of believing it and telling those things to himself ("You're a useless child, the most useless child in this world" "Drool in snot, dandruff, shit and piss" "I'm a useless child" "Nobody will save me" "I'm a lonely kid")

Take A Slice-Glass Animals: Vibes

Fighting With The Melody-Jimmy Urine: Vibes

Comics-Caravan Palace: Vibes

Rhinestone Eyes-Gorillaz: Vibes

Butch 4 Butch-Rio Romero: Mostly vibes, sort of how I think the most "peacefull" moments in a relationship with him would feel like, kind of bittersweet feeling

Suki Suki Daisuki-Jun Togawa: Yandere Niragi. If he's interested in someone, he'd go through an obsessive phase, most likely forcing the other person to "love" him. This man is so confused about the feeling of love that he's unable to tell when he loves someone or when he's obsessed with them due to his lack of attention ("Like you, like you, I love you. Say you love me or I'll kill you")

:(-The Garden: Vibes

Kitty City-Cyriak Harris: Vibes

Blood-My Chemical Romance: If Niragi went to a therapist, he'd act like this song, with his signature cocky and sarcastic personality (at least before he gets better) ("I can't control myself because I don't know how" "They can fix me proper with a bit of luck" "I'm the kind of human wreckage that you love")

A Mask of My Own Face-Lemon Demon: He feels like he needs to protect himself or else he will get hurt inside the borderlands by others again. He uses another personality, a completely ruthless one, even if he doesn't like it and hates himself for it, he doesn't see another way to deal with his fear, allowing his "new self" to consume himself. ("I'd wear that mask of my own face" "I look into my eyeholes and what do I see? A handsome motherfucker motherfucking looking back at me")

I'm a Murderer-Freddie Dredd: Mostly vibes ("I'm a motherfucking murderer")

'Cause I'm a Liar-Mcki Robyns-P: He would lie just for fun even in serious situations. If he needs to manipulate someone to survive, he'll do it his way, after all, he doesn't care anymore, he just seeks for excitement. ("Without emotion, without devotion. It's much easier to fake something happy")

I Disagree-Poppy: I don't know exactly how to describe it, but I feel like this is how he sees and feels the world and those around him, feeling misunderstood and going his own way ("If only all of you could see the world I see, then maybe everyone could live in harmony")

Personal Jesus-Mindless Self Indulgence: He has a superiority complex, that's for sure. I don't think he sees himself as a god, but I see him joking about it

Rainbow Factory-GLAZE, WoodenToaster: Vibes

Frontier Psychiatrist-The Avalanches: I kinda see this as Aguni taking the role of Niragi's "father figure" inside the borderlands, realizing he's turning insane and is unable to control him ("That boy needs therapy")

Hate it. Hate it. "JIGAHIDAI!"-WADATAKEAKI Kurage P: Jealousy. I can see it either in a pre-borderland situation where he hates the popular students in school, or inside the borderlands hating both Chishiya and Arisu. Jealousy takes over him constructing a big ego, causing himself to develop his superiority complex ("You see, I hate that popular girl!" "Does she think I don't notice? How she looks at me as if I'm trash" "I want to be praised" "I'm different from you all, I have my own ego! I'm not a side character" "I have zero common sense. I'm special")

Villain-Stella Jang: He knows damn well he's a villain, that's his goal after all, but what if someone took his point of view? wouldn't the villains be all of those who hurted him in the first place? ("We all pretend to be the heroes on the good side, but what if we are the villains on the other")

Violent-carolesdaughter: This is how I view an argument inside a relationship with Niragi. He's used to violence, to cause fear, and getting what he wants, so being in a healthy relationship would require a lot of patience and strenght. While he's getting better and suppressing those violent actions, there will be times where he accidentally uses violence or threatens the other person unintentionally, mostly hurting himself and his partner psychologically. The lyrics change between both points of view ("Don't make me get violent, I want my ring back baby that's a diamond" "She knows I'm a wreck" "I gave you all my trust and I told you just don't break it")

Hey Bunny-Baby Bugs: Based on how I think it would feel to partner up with him inside the borderlands and catching feelings for him while knowing the huge mess he is ("Hey bunny, what's with those evil eyes?" "Hey bunny, what the hell is wrong with us?" "Hey bunny, what if I loose you too? If I become the monster, together we can always be blue")

Kokoronashi-majiko: I'm pretty sure Niragi isn't able to see himself as someone able to love, even if he doesn't want to be alone (just like when he confesses this feeling while fighting with Chishiya and Arisu). If someone truly loved him and was willing to not letting him go, it would hurt. He can't see himself as someone who can love or be loved, so he can't accept the love he's seeking for in case that turns him "weaker" making his true self confront with the protective mean personality he's created. He could learn how to accept it, so he might want the other person to stay in the end, but it wouldn't be easy for him to accept it ("It's awful, I'd rather you destroy my body, tear it to sheds, do as you please" "No matter how much I'm loved by you, my heart is just one" "I don't know this, don't leave me alone")

Nightmare Parade-FAKE TYPE.: Vibes

Slipping Through My Fingers-Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried: Niragi seeing himself loosing his young, gentle and caring personality due to his fear, being unable to control what's happening inside, nostalgia and sadness kicking in ("The feeling that I'm loosing her forever" "That funny little girl" "Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture and save it from the funny tricks of time")

Kuroneko No Tango-Pink Martini, The Von Trapps: Vibes

YKWIM?-Yot Club: Him confroting his feelings of loneliness when he's left alone with his thoughts ("It feels like I care too much when I'm alone, oh no")

Romantic Lover-Eyedress: Just appreciating his physical appearance ("She's a killer, I love her features")

Wrecking Ball-Mother Mother: Based on how he sees himself as someone who needs to destroy everything in a way or another in order to be powerful + the fun he has with it ("Call me a reckless wrecking ball" "Let's break it just because we can")

Edge-Rezz: Vibes

Freaks-Surf Curse: Again, confronting feelings when loving someone, but not in such a painful as Kokoronashi ("I need a place to stay where I can cover up my face" "Don't cry, I'm just a freak")

Little Bit-Lykke Li: Vibes

6up 5oh Cop-Out (Pro/Con)-Will Wood and the Tapeworms: Vibes

PHONKY TOWN-PlayaPhonk: Vibes

I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE-Måneskin: Freaky time. He would absolutely love this song, definitely his type of thing ("You could be the beauty and I could be the monster" "I wanna touch your body so fucking electric" "I wanna make you hungry, then I wanna feed you")

#BrooklynBloodPop!-SyKo: Vibes

A Cold Freezin' Night-The Books: Vibes

A Pearl-Mitski: My most favorite song to associate with Niragi. Represents his evolution as a character. Creating an scenario where he is loved by someone,he rejects it at first, acting tough ("I don't want your touch") and then proceeds to explain why ("It's just that I fell in love with a war, nobody told me it ended" "it left a pearl in my hand and I roll it around every night just to watch it glow") the war being the borderlands and his new personality, he loved it, but nobody drew a line and it's getting out of hand. The pearl is the feeling of power, the one he has to remember when feeling weak just to feel something. At the end of the song it changes to ("Sorry I can't take your touch"), realizing that he wants love, but he's not able to take it or else he'll become the Niragi from the past

Problematic-Bo Burnham: Him acknowledging his problematic actions but not wanting to apologize because he doesn't feel the need to. He knows he's done bad things but he is going to laugh at it and be a sarcastic mf about it

First Love/Late Spring-Mitski: Similar to Kokoronashi, he wouldn't be able to accept love and how it makes him feel. He would think that he prefers for everyone to hate him and be lonely instead of sacrificing his tougher side. Also talks about how he's grown way too quickly for him to understand feelings properly ("So please hurry leave me, I can't breathe, please don't say you love me" "One word from you and I would jump out of this ledge I'm on baby" "I was so young when I behaved 25, yet now I find I've grown into a tough child"

The Other Side Of Paradise-Glass Animals: Vibes

Bodybag-Chloe Moriondo: How I feel about liking his character, confronting feelings basically ("Don't know if I hate you or if I wanna date you" "I don't wanna like you, I just wanna tie you up, then keep you in a cage and watch you sleep for ages"

Get Into It (Yuh)-Doja Cat: Vibes

Psycho Killer-2005 Remaster- Talking Heads: Vibes

HOT DEMON B!TCHES NEAR U!!!-CORPSE, Night Lovell: Vibes

INFERNO-Sub Urban, Bella Poarch: Again, another song that describes him pretty well ("Baby I'm the reason why hell's so hot" "Terribly like terrible, she's a villain" "Think I'm getting butterflies but it's really something telling me to run away")

Bad Morning-Omori: Vibes

Trouble Brewing: Vibes

Dueles Tan Bien-Bruses: Another song about my confronting feelings with this man ("You know what? You taste better than alcohol to me. You know that and you've got control" "Because you hurt, and you hurt so good that I don't know what to do")

And that's it!! This took me the whole day to write but it makes me very happy to be able to share it :)

I've you've read the entire thing, hope you enjoyed the character analysis! ლ(◞‿◟ლ)

[artistic-writer]

The Contract :: CS Omegaverse :: Ch 7

Title: The Contract Rating: E Summary: Emma had never wanted much in her life, despite being married to one of the richest men in the world. For ten years she has felt like a prisoner in her own marriage, denied the one thing she wants the most, but her husband cannot help but bargain her want like a cheap business deal.  Enter Killian Jones, the Alpha her husband has hired to make sure she gets what she wants. And then some.

AO3 - Ko-Fi (100% of coffee’s bought go towards buying @adognamedkillian toys and treats!)

A/N: Chapter 7!!! It comes with some trigger warnings i’m afraid, because I am just that kind of writer *evil grin*  TW: domestic abuse. I don’t know what else to call it without giving anything away, which i do not want to do.  As always, if in doubt, message me.  This chapter has the answers everyone has been waiting for, and some other good news!  Ch 8 is already done!

Fantastic artwork by @kmomof4​ so give her some love and beta’d by the lovely @hollyethecurious​ And as ever, thank you to all the ladies in Discord! Thanks ladies!

This is an Omegaverse fic featuring A/B/O dynamics.  Whilst this varies from fandom to fandom, for the purposes of my fic, there will be no mpreg.  Just so you know.  There will however be knotting, breeding, heats and other delicious things that come along with A/B/O.  If you do not know what A/B/O is, feel free to message me :)  Many thanks to @hollyethecurious​ @shardminds​ @kmomof4​ @darkcolinodonorgasm​ @resident-of-storybrooke​ and @ineffablecolors​ for letting me bounce my complicated ideas of you lol

If you wish to stay away from this fic, blacklist the A/B/O tag.

Taglist:  I’ll be honest, i have lost my taglist for this fic, so if you want a tag, please message me here on on discord (Salem #5158/ itwontalwaysbelikethis@gmail.com) and I’ll add you!  I’ve tagged the following people i KNOW want to read this, but i don’t want to accidentally tag you if you do not like ABO.

@hollyethecurious​ @shardminds​ @kmomof4​ @resident-of-storybrooke​ @darkcolinodonorgasm​ @thisonesatellite​ @xemmaloveskillianx​ @hookedonapirate​ @teamhook​ @winterbaby89​ @carpedzem​ @courtorderedcake​ @profdanglaisstuff​ @itsfabianadocarmo​ @donteattheappleshook​​ @ultraluckycatnd @jennjenn615​

——————————————————————————————

A week was going to be far too long. It was only seven days but in the grand scheme of things, Emma worried that it might feel like forever without the Alpha she was now sure she was in love with. Of course, she hadn’t told him that. Like an idiot, once he had declared his feelings, she had pretended she was asleep and let him pull her harder into his embrace where she had spent the rest of the night. Morning had come and he was gone but she didn’t blame him. After all, she was well aware that Graham was having the apartment watched, making sure that neither of them broke the terms of his precious contract.

Maybe this was a blessing. Maybe they had been spending too much time together. As much as Emma wanted her bastard husband to be wrong, maybe he was right. For the next seven days she was to accompany Ruby to a very exclusive spa where they would get some much needed rest and relaxation, or so Graham had told her. In truth, he had been angry at how much time she was spending with Killian, his loyal henchmen having told on them and their extra meetings. She should have known. Graham was far too connected to not find out, and Emma had only agreed to go with Ruby because she was afraid of confirming the reality of his paranoia.

Emma did have feelings for Killian. They were more than she had ever felt before, powerful and robust and she was sure that not even seven days apart would change them. The time would be perfect for her to process her own feelings, and how to let Killian know that she felt the same. Emotions had ever been her strongest point, and to play along with his little game, Emma had told Graham that she would be glad to get away from all the men in her life, which also meant, however, that she had to be careful of what she told Ruby. Best friend or not, she was still a spy for Graham and she had no doubt that Ruby would sing like a songbird given half the opportunity.

All Emma had to do now was tell Killian.

It would crush him to see her gone. Emma knew what it meant for an Alpha to declare their love for another. Most of the time they never did until they were sure they had found that perfect someone, but she had never known a single Alpha to pair with a Beta as their mate. Ever. That was half of the confusion currently swirling around inside Emma’s head. She was a Beta, and a broken one at that, illness rife within her body, and she was damn sure she wasn’t worth the love of any Alpha, let alone one so perfect.

She paced up and down the apartment, stopping briefly to draw the curtains. The metal rings scraped across the metal rail, but the sound was quickly drowned out when a car sped passed outside. Emma pulled one curtain back a little in case it had been Killian, but the bright red tail lights at the end of the street dashed her hopes in a second. With a sigh, she shut the curtain again and resumed her steady pacing around the apartment.

She had never been a worrier before, but suddenly she felt herself apprehensive for Killian’s arrival. Years of mental control at the hands of a so-called husband would do that to anyone, but rationally Emma knew that whatever she had to say, Killian would be okay with. In a way, she kind of agreed with Graham, not because she thought they needed to be apart, but because they had been spending so much time together even she was starting to realise that she only smiled when she heard Killian’s voice. Graham was a lot of things, but he was not blind.

Emma only wanted to tell Killian one thing; that she felt the same way and she would be back with the same feelings in her heart.

Her attachment to Killian had become so much lately that she didn’t even recognize herself anymore. She had become someone else, someone liberated and where she had previously been quick to argue, she was now willing to accept whatever pleasure or punishment was dealt out to her. Killian had awakened that inside of her, and she was not ready to let it go. She knew Graham would never give her a divorce, but over the last few hours she had found herself trying to fabricate ways of getting rid of him for good.

A soft knock on the door woke her from her murderous daydream and she was up and racing towards the door before she had even looked in that direction. She knew it was Killian. She could smell him, even through the door, cedarwood and sea salt with a dash of darkness that only she had been privy to. She grabbed the door handle and pulled hard, the wooden panel jumping from the frame without a single sound. She gasped, because somewhere between drawing the curtains and plotting her husband’s death, it had rained, obvious by the fact that Killian now stood in her doorway dripping wet.

He was out of breath having raced from his car, but had been unable to avoid the downpour. His clothes were soaked, clinging to every definition of muscle that Emma could see, his dark blue t-shirt moving with every heave of his chest. Her eyes moved down, over the outline of his bulge now defined by the dampness of his pants and she felt herself suddenly become short of her own breath. When she looked back up to his face, hair dishevelled and clinging to his forehead, she noticed a drip as it fell from the tip of his nose and his eyes were wide with worry, the blue much brighter than she remembered as he searched her face for an answer.

“Emma,” he whispered, like it was the only word he could say. It held so much meaning, a question he needed to know the answer too, but as he searched her face for what he sought, Emma burst into tears.

Killian was over the threshold in a heartbeat, slamming the door behind him just before clutching her face in his hands and dipping his head down to attract her gaze again. Watery eyes tried to focus on his features but Emma couldn’t speak. All she could do was shake her head to tell him something was wrong, and Emma grabbed his hands, holding them to her face in an attempt to keep his warmth on her skin. Even after standing in the rain he was hot, a true Alpha trait, and Emma felt herself immediately calmed by his touch.

“Shh, my love,” Killian said calmly, stroking his thumbs over her cheeks to wipe away her tears, but his words caused a new wave to burst from her eyelids. “Oh, Emma,” Killian soothed, placing one hand on the back of her head and pulling her to his chest.

Her arms wrapped around him immediately, fingers interlocking behind his back and holding him tightly. Killian let her cry, let her expel all of her wails into the fabric of his t-shirt as he stroked her hair, his own tears burning the rims of his eyes. He pinched them closed in an attempt to halt the sob in his chest at how much she was hurting, and a single tear rolled down his still wet face and fell onto the fabric of Emma’s oversized shirt.

After rubbing her back for a good few minutes, and letting her cry until her energy was almost gone, Killian smoothed his hands over her shoulders and pulled her from his body. Her eyes were red, as was the rims of her nostrils, and she quickly wiped at her nose with the extra long sleeve of the white shirt. “Is this one of mine?” Killian asked her with a small smile and Emma coughed out a watery laugh at his attempt to distract her.

“Maybe,” she shrugged weakly.

“It looks good on you,” he said with a smirk, arching an eyebrow playfully.

“It smells like you,” Emma sobbed, a fresh set of tears causing her vision to blur again.

“Hey, now, don’t start that again,” Killian pleaded, rubbing her arms lovingly. “What’s got you all upset, love?”

Emma’s bottom lip quivered and she was unable to stop it. She opened her mouth to speak but the lump in her throat stopped any of the words from coming out.

“Is it something I’ve done?” Killian asked her urgently, the tips of his ears blushing with pink. Emma shook her head and real panic rose up from within him about their last encounter. “Something I’ve said?”

“It’s…It’s…,” Emma stammered, unable to find the words she needed.

“Is it me?” Killian forced himself to ask, his jaw clenching straight after the words left his mouth in nothing but a whisper. He hated himself for being so selfish but Emma instantly reassured him.

“Never,” she breathed, placing her hands on his face. “You’re everything to me.”

Killian heaved a sigh of relief. Emma’s words were exactly what he needed to hear, even if they were not the ones he wanted to hear. He hastily gave his face a wipe, another stray tear having fallen in joyous comfort.

“Then please, love, tell me.” His hands slipped down to hers, clutching her fingers in his and giving them a little shake.

Emma gave him a small nervous smile and a nod of assurance before giving his arm a gentle tug and leading him to the couch. Killian followed, letting his hand slip from hers just long enough for him to slip off his jacket and hang it over a stool as they passed by the kitchenette. Emma was already settling against the arm of the couch when he got to her and reached out to take her proffered hand.

“I have to go away,” Emma said softly.

“Away?” Killian repeated, his stomach falling away from him as he sat down and made sure there was no gap between them.

“To a spa,” Emma said, hanging her head. “With my best friend who is also Graham’s mistress.”

Killian let out the breath he had been holding and a nervous laugh. “Is that all?”

“For a week.” Emma looked over to him and he was still smiling.

“Love, that’s nothing. I’ll be here when you get back,” he promised, rubbing a hand over her knee.

“Graham says we are getting too close. He’s been watching us.” Emma’s confession had Killian narrowing his eyes and an envious rage boiled inside of him.

“How?” Killian licked his lips and shook his head. He didn’t need to know the answer really, because he had seen the same car parked outside with the same distinctive henchman behind the poorly blacked out windows as she had. “Are you safe?”

“I think so, but I don’t want to go and have Ruby fish around for information I know Graham has told her to obtain. It’s going to be so fake,” Emma pouted. “I don’t have a lot of people in my life I can trust anymore.”

“You have me,” Killian told her. “You’ll always have me.”

Emma was suddenly overcome with a warmth pooling inside her that she never thought could be felt at a time like this. Killian’s concern meant more than she could say, more than she could describe, and all she could do was launch herself across the sofa and into his awaiting arms. Killian fell backwards onto the cushions and Emma fell onto him, her mouth seeking his for a passionate kiss. He let her fall onto him, nestling her against his chest as she scrambled for his touch, clinging to his wet t-shirt and holding on for dear life, forgetting all of her troubles in an instant.

Emma kissed him hard, like he was going to be gone the second she opened her eyes, and Killian let her, his lips parting ever so slightly and tracing the seam of her lips. Emma obliged, her tongue slipping passed her teeth and into his mouth where it duelled with his in impetuous passion. Her hands clawed at the hem of his shirt, desperate to rid him of the fabric as quickly as possible, but her weight pinned it to his body because she was reluctant to let even a slither of light pass between their bodies.

Killian grew hard despite his intention to not become aroused and he could smell that Emma was too. She was coating his senses in a cloak of visceral need, the animal within him roaring to life at the mere scent of her, and before he could rationalise any thought, his fingers were fumbling with the buttons of the shirt she was wearing, desperate to get to the skin beneath. Emma shifted her position until her knees were on either side of his legs and tore her lips from his, pushing herself into a sit and helping him divest herself of the shirt.

“Are you alright, love,?” Killian breathed, his words a whisper.

“I am now,” Emma sighed. She was in such a haste to rid herself of the shirt that she tore the bottom two buttons off before wrenching it off her shoulders. She was naked underneath, expectantly or not Killian wasn’t sure, but he couldn’t help but watch the sway of her breasts as she wobbled atop his groin while her hands went to work on his pants.

“No, Emma, stop,” Killian ground out, hating his rational brain and grabbing her hands, halting her advances. It pained him to his very soul to stop her, and the look in her eyes, one of pure hurt, sliced right through him.

“Don’t you want me?” Emma whimpered.

“Aye, of course I bloody want you,” Killian assured her with a sure nod. He still found it absolutely baffling how someone as beautiful as Emma had such a low self esteem, but as usual, the answers to his many questions led right back to her sorry excuse of a husband. He sat up, a huge flat palm spreading out over the middle of her back to make sure she didn’t topple backward, and gave her a loving smile. “I know you’re scared he is going to stop this,” he began, skimming his other hand down the length of her arm and massaging her fingers. “Only the gods can express how unbelievably frightened I am of the same thing.” Confident she was well balanced now, Killian slid his hand up her back and buried it in her hair, cradling her head and holding her face to his. Their noses were pressed together side by side and he felt his breath hitch before he pressed his lips to hers for a quick, chaste kiss. “I meant it when I said I loved you, Emma, and I don’t think I know how to stop.”

Emma pulled her head back and Killian’s hand moved to comb her golden tresses through his fingers, eager as ever to reassure her that whatever worry she was feeling would be over with soon. She blinked, swallowing hard. Emma had never told anyone she had loved them, not even Graham. Sure she had told him, but it had always been after he had said it first, as fleeting as those times were, and she wasn’t exactly sure what it meant to love somebody as openly as Killian clearly loved her.

“I can’t-,” she began shyly, but Killian cut her off.

“You don’t have to say it,” Killian added softly, recognizing the turmoil in her features and giving her a boyish smile that melted her heart. He reached behind her for his shirt she had discarded and pulled it up over her back to cover her once more. “I just want you to know that you are loved, Emma, and despite what you might think, you are not worthless.”

Emma’s lips curved into an unsure smile, little ticks of the corners that were accompanied by a rosy blush across her cheeks and the bridge of her nose that told Killian she was not used to such compliments, something he thought of a as grievous crime against the beauty of both her body and soul. She deserved more than she had ever received and if Killian could offer her just a small piece of his heart, he would wait forever for her to fill the void it had left with the gift of a piece of her own.

“Not to me,” Killian added, reiterating his feelings with a smile. “And I do love you.” He stroked the back of his knuckles over the apple of her cheek and his heart warmed with how deep red her cheeks grew. “But we shouldn’t do this, not here, not if the place is being watched.”

Emma nodded in agreement. “You’re right,” she pouted.

“I’m always right, love,” Killian winked. “And when you return I promise to show you just much I want you.” There was a darkness to the tone of his voice that had a shiver running down Emma’s spine but as quickly as it had appeared, it disappeared in his next words. “And luckily for you, I’m soft.”

“Soft?” Emma asked, confused.

“Soft,” he repeated with a nod and a grin. When Emma’s brow furrowed he chuckled and took pity on her, sliding her from his lap and wrapping one big strong arm around her. “It means I like cuddling too, even without sex.”

Emma snuggled into his side, stretching an arm across his still soggy midriff and hugging him tighter with a content purr. “Me too,” she said softly, a smile breaking out across her face as wide as a mile when Killian turned his head and kissed her on her forehead. “I mean, the sex is great, but,” she teased and Killian’s chest rumbled with laughter.

“But?” Killian prompted her to continue with a little nudge.

“But this is nice too.” Emma had never really had much physical affection like Killian had given her, little touches here and there and now a full blown snuggle on the couch as if they were a real couple. It made her feel special, more than she ever had done, and somehow she was okay with tonight being a different kind of intimate.

–

Angry didn’t even begin to cover what Emma was feeling right now. Thank the Lord for small favours and her chauffeur being on call, because when she had insisted on her driver staying at the resort too, and Graham had obliged, more than likely because the tall, skinny man with small round glasses and a hat Emma was pretty sure was glued to his fake hair piece underneath was actually one of Graham’s many little birds whose favourite song was the Killian and Emma show, she’d had no idea that after just two lunches with Ruby, she would need him to drive her home.

Even thinking about that invasion of marital privacy had her blood bubbling with fury, let alone what she had been stewing on during the drive home after less than half the week at the spa. Was nothing sacred to the man? Emma had been trying so, so hard to fight her growing feelings for Killian, despite everything thrown at her, if not for Graham than for the sake of her reputation as a lady of elite society, a reputation that had helped her fashion out a little niche existence of her own. It wasn’t about being rich, or being able to rub shoulders with these people, but instead about her identity as an individual without Graham, and she still had friends in high places, and many endeavours that would not look favourably at an affair, but did Graham care?

Fuck no.

Clearly not, because if the truth bomb Ruby had just dropped in the lap was anything to go by, Graham didn’t give a flying fuck about her or the meager life she had tried to build for herself in his shadow. Ruby was pregnant and her ever doting husband was the father, apparently something he was thrilled about. However, perhaps the most telling indication of who he was as a person, was when, after telling Ruby how delighted he was for an heir, he told her that Emma would raise the baby with him, as if they had sired the next CEO of the Humbert empire together, totally disregarding the feelings of a mother who would have her tot ripped from her bosom quicker than he could wish he was an Alpha.

The only reason Ruby had told Emma was because she was leaving town to get an abortion and regardless of what had happened between Graham and herself, she still thought of Emma as her best friend, and the whole thing with Graham had been fun and games until she had missed a period. She would tell Graham the baby was dead and knew he wouldn’t waste resources following her to check. Emma understood completely. Ruby was one of her most valued real friends, someone who had been there for her through so much already, and she couldn’t imagine taking the woman’s child and trying to raise it as her own. She just couldn’t. And if Graham knew either of them, he would have realised how insane the idea even was in the first place.

The ride home hadn’t abated Emma’s vehemence towards her husband one bit. It wasn’t about her, and it wasn’t about Ruby, or the life inside of her, but it was about how he had, for so long, managed to breeze through life treating people like property. Emma was sick of it. She was sick of how he had treated every single person and events around him with such frivolity, like his life was a game and his actions had no real consequence. Maybe she was taking it a bit far, storming out of a spa and wellness resort in the middle of the afternoon with nothing but the clothes on her back, but Emma just had to give him a piece of her mind whilst her temper charged storm of emotions swirling inside of her still fuelled her every being. If not for any other reason than he deserved it.

The time it had taken Jeeves - Emma knew that wasn’t his name, but Graham had never let her know his real one for fear they had, ironically, begun an affair - to get her home, Emma’s rage hadn’t fizzled out one iota. She launched herself from the car quicker than it took Jeeves to put it into park, and raced across the expansive gravel driveway in the fading light of afternoon. The sun was heading down for the evening but Emma was wide awake knowing that Graham would be home at this time too, and with any luck, she would be interrupting something he deemed of the utmost importance.

As usual, when the door was opened for her, the lobby of their mansion was empty, cold and uninviting despite the rays of sunshines currently warming their mark into the stone floor. Absentmindedly Emma wondered if they had owned a dog, would it be sunning itself in the beams the way dogs often did, desperate to catch the last warmth of the day. Equally as unnecessary in her thought process, Emma wistfully wished for the carefree life of a pet, free to do whatever she wanted all day without being constantly reminded of how she was nothing but a dissatisfaction wearing an expensive wedding ring.

Boy, was Graham in for some kind of shit storm.

Eventually she found him in his study, after a few pointed directions from staff who thought better than to get in her way, and didn’t even try to hide her ire as she strode across the expansive Persian rug between them and, just as he turned to look at her in shock of her actually being there, slapped him across the face with an audible smack. Hard. Graham’s previously relaxed stance stiffened up in an instant, his eyes fluttering closed as he rearranged his jaw from one side to the other before clenching it closed. Emma was seething, positively vibrating with wrath, the tips of her fingers tingling from the impact that had left a rather telling mark across Graham’s cheek.

“Hello wife,” Graham spat, peeling his eyes open to give her a cold, dead stare. “Back so soon?”

“Don’t ‘wife’ me, you bastard,” Emma yelled, jabbing Graham in the shoulder with the heel of her hand.

“I take it Ruby opened her fat mouth,” Graham mumbled to himself, sighing dramatically. “I guess you know the rest, judging by the pain in my shoulder,” Graham sneered.

“Why the fuck would you think I would raise someone else’s child with you?” Emma shouted, eyes wide with her words.

“It’s not someone else child, Emma, it’s mine,” Graham growled, his voice low and his words ground out through his clenched teeth.

“Oh, that makes it all better!” Emma laughed.

“What are you so angry about?” Graham shrugged. “It’s not like you aren’t getting what you want out of this arrangement.”

He meant Killian and Emma knew it, swallowing the spiteful words that threatened to fall out of mouth back down where they could fester in her stomach some more. “And what about Ruby, huh? You think she is just going to give up her child?”

Graham turned and Emma was taken back by his calm demeanour. “The child is a Humbert. It will live with me and you are my wife, and as such you will be expected to raise it accordingly.”

“Accordingly?” Emma shook her head. “What the fuck, Graham? You really have no idea how your actions affect everyone around you, do you?”

They stared at each other, Emma shaking with exasperation and Graham as cool as ice, still and motionless. Emma watched the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed, slowly and deliberately like he even had control over his body’s most basic instincts.

“The child will be raised a Humbert,” Graham repeated slowly, pushing his hands into his pockets and taking a few menacing steps towards her. Emma didn’t back down, squaring her shoulders and met his gaze with the same intensity he was giving her. “You will raise it as a Humbert.”

“I’m not some fucking wet nurse for your bastard, Graham!” Emma sniggered. “I will not raise someone else’s kid, and I will not let you manipulate this situation in your favour like you always do. This is a life, a human being, Graham, surely you realise that!” Emma waved her hands, trying to find any empathy behind the blue eyes staring back at her, but all she saw was a wall of stone.

“You are my wife,” Graham ground out. “You will obey me.”

Emma laughed, loud and heartily, her entire body moving with the deep, belly rumbling hilarity of Graham’s statement. “I won’t, and there is nothing you can do about it. What are you going to do? Divorce me?” Graham’s furrowed brow meant she had struck a nerve.

“Pity,” he huffed, looking down at his feet. He knew there was no way Emma wouldn’t do as he wanted. She might want to be with the Alpha more than him, but he was pretty confident that if it came down to it, she wouldn’t leave a defenceless babe to fend for itself. Graham would simply take the baby form Ruby and leave it with Emma, sure nature would take its course and she would be unable to not help, and over time they would become one big semi agreeable family. He smirked to himself, and Emma scoffed a laugh as if she could read his mind.

“I’m so sorry I’m such a fucking disappointment!” Emma spat at him and with her words, Graham snapped, his biceps bulging under his sleeve caps as he clenched his fists in his pockets.

“Disappointment?” He snapped. “What do you know about disappointment, huh? Maybe if you’d been the wife I was promised-,”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emma cried, moving towards him and grabbing his arm as he attempted to turn away.

“Nothing, forget I said anything.” Graham shook her off and made for his desk, the decanter of whiskey already halfway to the bottom.

“No, no, go on,” Emma insisted sarcastically. She followed after him, giving him a little shove that spilled the whiskey right out of the glass in his hand. “I’d love to hear about how yet another one of your problems in life is caused by me.”

“Not this one you wouldn’t,” Graham cautioned. He lifted the cut glass tumbler to his lips and took a sip of the burning liquid, exciting all of his taste buds at once.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Emma screeched, running her hands through her hair. “Ten years of marriage and you won’t even be honest with me?”

“You wouldn’t want honesty, Emma, trust me.” Graham finished the whiskey, pouring the last of the honey coloured drink into his mouth and swallowing the lot in one gulp. He pinched his eyes closed until the burn at the back of his sinuses passed but when he opened them, Emma was still as disgruntled as before.

“Trust you?” she said spitefully. “Graham Humbert, the almighty, the all powerful, the good for nothing burnt out Beta who wishes he was an Alpha so badly? Where has that ever got me before?”

Graham spun around and advanced on her, making Emma jump back for a second. His hands were on her face, clamping her jaw in his grip and silencing her long enough to stare into her eyes and cause real fear to spark behind the green hues. “I can tell you where it will get you if you don’t stop with this Ruby bullshit.”

“Well it won’t be a divorce, you’ve made that abundantly clear.” Her words were compressed through her lips but they made her point. Humbert men didn’t get divorced, or so Graham had pounded into her brain from the second she had married him.

He pushed her head aside and released her jaw and Emma immediately rubbed at the soreness there. He walked by her as if she wasn’t even there, like she was nothing, like he hadn’t put his hands on her and hurt her. “Oh there are worse things to do to you, Emma. Don’t push me.”

“Don’t push you? Oh, honey, I haven’t even begun!” Emma ground her teeth, stalking after him with heavy footsteps that echoed off the vast ceiling above them. “You’re a bully, Graham, plain and simple,” she shouted. “You use other people to get what you want and you always will, and I don’t know if this is some kind of bullshit Alpha complex run amok, but I’m sick of it!” Emma caught up with him and dipped sideways, reappearing in front of him and halting his escape attempt. “I’m sick of the lies, the cheating, the galas and fake smiles, pandering to all your important friends, and most of all, I’m sick of you!” Emma took a breath, balling her fists at her side. “You’ll never be an Alpha as long as you live so-”

Her words were cut short by an overwhelming thud and the instant Emma’s eyes filled with the stinging sensation of tears, she knew he had hit her. The moment was in slow motion, like an out of body experience, and Emma felt the point of Graham’s knuckles hit her under the eye in a back hand punch. It shook her, physically and emotionally, and her body flushed with white hot prickles of adrenaline that blinded her so much she didn’t see the next blow coming.

“Shut up!” Graham shouted, his words hidden behind the slap sound. “Shut your dirty whore mouth!” Graham roared, spittle dripping from his lower lip in his rage. He raised his hand again but paused when Emma cowered away. “You want some truth? Here, how about this for a truth. The only reason we took you in was because you were an Omega and I was supposed to be Alpha, that’s the only reason I married you.”

“What do you mean I’m Omega?” Emma snapped, the pain in her cheek radiating through her entire jaw as she gently pawed at the underside of her eye socket where the skin felt like it had split open.

“Come on, Emma, don’t be dense,” Graham sneered. “Have you ever wondered why you couldn’t remember seeing a doctor for your ‘illness’? Ever wondered why my family were so insistent on your medication? It’s a supressant, you dumb bitch!”

Emma’s entire life flashed before her eyes. It all made sense. Everything was much clearer. She was Omega, a completely different gender class that she had always believed, and the entire Humbert family knew about it, but had suppressed her nature with drugs. For a second Emma imagined what her life might have been if she had never had the misfortune of crossing paths with the Humbert family. Would she have married an Alpha? Would she have pups of her own? Her mind swirled with scenario after scenario, all of which had been ripped from her grasp by Graham and his family.

“All this time,” Emma whimpered angrily, shaking her head. “You knew and let me think I was sick.” Her rage boiled up inside of her and she felt her fists ball at her sides again, her feet carrying her closer to the man in front of her.

“And you would have never have found out if it wasn’t for that fucking Alpha,” Graham rasped, his nose wrinkling at the thought of Killian being more than he had ever developed into.

His misplaced rage was evident and Emma was quick to interrupt his fury with a balled fist pounding on his shoulder. “Leave him out of this. He doesn’t know anything.”

“Aww, did I hit a sore spot there, darling?” Graham leered, cocking his head to one side in mock sympathy. “I’m not a fool Emma. I know you two have been fucking without my prior consent!”

“Your prior consent?” Emma yelled. “Listen to you, trying to control my life, what I do and who I see.” She laughed, scrubbing her hands over her face with a sigh. “Well, newsflash Humbert, I’m not your property.”

“Newsflash, Emma, I’ll be suing the fuck out of Killian Jones to recover all of the money he took whilst still fucking my wife, and then, when he has nothing else left, I’ll take his brother’s bar. I know people who could get that place shut down like that!” To emphasize the power he had to do as he had threatened, Graham clicked his fingers right in her face, and Emma blinked in an attempt to fight her flight response.

“Why are you like this?” Emma asked, her voice turning softer, more sympathetic. She had been fond of Graham once, and they were friends for so long before they got married, so the man in front of her right now, the man who had dared to lay hands on her, was not the man she had once known. “What happened to that sweet, charming guy I married, huh? Look what you’ve become, Graham. Spoiled, hateful and with so much anger-,”

Another blow took Emma by surprise and she had no time to brace herself. Graham’s clenched fist hit her again in the same place and Emma was sure that that blow had split the skin under her eye now. She tumbled backwards, falling flat onto her butt and only narrowly avoiding hitting her head on the marble fireplace surrounding behind her.

“Because of you!” Graham bellowed, looming over her, the vein in his forehead bulging.

“It’s not my fault you didn’t become an Alpha!” Emma slapped the floor beside her to highlight her point. “That’s not on me!” Emma snapped.

“They said an Omega presence would draw it out of me, make me into the most powerful Alpha my family had ever seen, but no!” Graham yelled, shaking with anger. “We paid good money for you!” He accused, pointing at her. “You ruined me, you poor, good for nothing ungrateful Omega whore!” Graham raised his hand again, intent on making sure Emma felt this one, but she scrambled backwards across the floor, pushing herself to her feet when her back hit the solid door frame. “Now do me a favour and get the fuck out!”

When Emma pulled open the door, the cold air from the hall hit the welt under her eye and halted the throbbing pain when she blinked. Graham was hot on her heels, shoes pounding the stone floor and sending echoes into the hall. One of the staff was barged out of the way by Emma and stumbled into Graham’s path, slowing him temporarily and Emma took the opportunity to race for the front door. She yanked it open and couldn’t stop the tears from falling any longer. One of her shoes came loose and she kicked the other one off, ignoring the searing pain shooting up her legs as she tore across the gravel driveway.

“And don’t come back!” Graham yelled after her, the door knocker clattering as he slammed the door and cast her out into the night.

[roleplay-salt]

About; Rules; FAQ

Welcome to Roleplay Salt! This is a blog for roleplayers to vent & rant anonymously about the things that peeve or hurt them in the roleplaying community.

GENERAL

Your submission will always be posted anonymously; no exceptions. (This includes positivity submissions & shoutouts.)

Your submission’s text will be placed in a graphic and then copied as plain text as its caption for accessibility purposes.

Topics must be roleplay-related. (This can, of course, include experiences with partners doing things that may be unrelated to roleplay, but would still be considered relevant if it impacts your roleplaying experience with that particular partner.)

Anyone following our blog will be allowed to leave replies on submissions, whether in agreement or disagreement, and everyone is allowed (even encouraged) to reblog submissions, with or without their own commentary. However, we will delete any spamming comments, including ones that are or are similar to “Why don’t you come off anon and say that?” Such comments provide nothing to the discussion. In fact, they usually shut down discussion and it completely disregards the entire point of this blog’s existence. No one has to “come off anon” nor are they “cowards” for seeking safety behind anonymity. Your aggressiveness with that sentiment only reinforces the reason why they want to be anonymous in the first place. ADDENDUM: We will delete salt replies that involve simply telling others to, essentially, “shut up and move on already” and “stop sending salt replies in about this”. You’re more than allowed to say this things in the comments, but we will no longer be making them a part of any future debates.

We actively edit and restructure the wording of submissions. We read every single one of your submissions and we care about consistency and readability. We will correct any spelling errors, grammar errors, and odd sentencing structure, and we will often lengthen abbreviations and slang, and we will fill out any curse words or sensitive terms that were originally 'censored' in the submissions. Do not take it personally! Again, we aim for consistency. We will never just copy/paste your submission and then post it. That's terrible.  

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The “Flour” category is reserved for any submissions that do not appropriately fit under “Salt” or “Sugar”, often involving personal confessions and storytelling.

C A L L O U T S    &    S H O U T O U T S

A callout submission is specifically speaking nastily and meanly about someone else, regardless if it’s the truth or not.  All URLs & names in a callout submission will be marked out to preserve the other party’s anonymity as well.  We are a safe place for you to release your anger, frustration and hurt, even if it’s towards someone and not something. But we cannot and will not participate in the true nature of a callout. That will need to be something that you do for yourself if you believe that it’s important for you, your friends and your fandom community.

A shoutout submission is specifically speaking kindly and positively about someone else.

All URLs & names in a shoutout submission will remain visible, and the person will be tagged & mentioned on the post so as to better the odds of them seeing it.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

“Who are the moderators?”

Currently, there is only one operating the blog: Moderator Bull.

“Am I allowed to know your roleplay/personal blogs?”

Unfortunately, no. To preserve our own anonymity (for many of the same reasons as the submitters), we have agreed on the terms to never give out our URLs if requested. If we are interested in your blog, then we will follow you at our own discretion!

“Will you remove a submission for me?”

That depends on the type of submission, what it is about, and what your reasoning for wanting it removed is. The whole point of anonymity is that nothing gets tied back to you. The only cases where we will greatly consider removing a submission is if it’s involving a shoutout about you and you don’t want to be affiliated with us. 

“Will you remove my comments on a submission?”

Of course! However, we will not remove any corresponding responses to you (except in instances where, if yours is removed, the next comment is made to look like it’s being directed to the person prior to your comment. We don’t want to cause unnecessary conflict.) We will also not be relied upon to keep deleting comments you regret leaving behind. If you’re wanting to leave a public response on submissions, then you must be prepared to have others possibly publicly disagree with you.

“Can I ask you for roleplay advice?”

Go right ahead! But we can’t promise the best or most insightful of answers, or that we’ll get to them relatively soon! Chances are, we will post your questions anonymously so that others in the community can help.

“Why did you follow my blog?”

To make our existence known to you and, if you like us, hoping that you will send in a submission of your own or tell your roleplay partners about us!

“How did you find my blog?”

Most likely through the Recommended sidebar feature, a mutual, or just the good ol’ search function.  

“Could you unfollow me?”

If you don’t want to be associated with us, then we recommend blocking the blog so that we don’t unintentionally follow you again!

“Hey, could you do something about the people leaving rude, mean responses on the submissions?”

Unless they are throwing bigoted slurs, threats, or suicide-baiting remarks at the anonymous submitter, they are not doing anything wrong. They have just as much right to disagree with your submission as you had when you sent it to us. We are, first and foremost, a place to vent frustrations or hurts behind the safety of anonymity, and we are also a free-speech blog. We are of the belief that discussions, no matter how heated, is healthy and brings the community together as a whole. Just as your submission may provide someone else with the awareness that they are not alone in similar frustrations, someone disagreeing with your submission may provide a new perspective to you and others that had not been considered before.

“How does name-calling and swearing and being mean add to a discussion? You and your blog are what are wrong with the roleplaying community!”

Just because someone isn’t being nice to you as they give their side of the argument, doesn’t mean that it cancels out their actual argument. You’re choosing to be offended and distracted by how abrasive they are, and that’s no one’s problem to deal with but your own. You have the ability to block anyone so that you no longer have to see their comments on future submissions. Why would we police what people say, the endgame of which would be to ban them from ever reblogging or commenting on submissions again if they don’t listen to us, if you’re not even willing to try solving the problem first by just blocking them? Wanting to have the last word or being upset that your submission didn’t receive the feedback you wanted is not a reason for us to step in and step on someone else’s right to speak, rudely or otherwise. If you’re not going to block them, then why should we?

“Could you not post submissions on sensitive topics like noncon, incest, and pedophilia?”

We have started tagging posts that we believe might be sensitive and controversial in nature with the tag “#twcontroversy”. We recommend blacklisting this tag. If that is still not enough, then we recommend unfollowing/blocking us. These are topics just as relevant in the roleplaying community as anything else.

“Could you promote me?”

Certainly! But only if you are another community-involved blog (a blog that provides a ‘service’ to the community, such as advice, roleplay help, a place for confessions, etc.), and it must be relevant to the roleplaying community to some degree! If you want to promote a roleplay blog, then we suggest sending in a shoutout submission!

“I sent a confession in weeks ago. Where is it? How long will it take for it to get posted?”

It’s either sitting in the queue or sitting in our drafts, waiting to be queued. We have 1,200+ followers so far, and on average we’re sent 15+ submissions a night. We only post between 5 to 8 submissions at night. Your submission is on a wait list. That’s all we can tell you.

“Why don’t you just close your submission box until all the current confessions are posted?”

Because we’re a vent blog first and foremost. If we close our ask/submission boxes, then we’re no longer an option for people who might desperately need to vent or talk about something that could have happened to them that day but have no other options. We want to be a healthy alternative to just bottling it up or possibly lashing out at the wrong people.

“I don’t believe you! I think you deleted my submission because one of you didn’t like it! You’re not unbiased at all!”

We’ve posted submissions about highly controversial roleplay topics like noncon, racism, transphobia, and pedophilia. We reassure you that your salt submission about OCs, theme trends, blog selectivity, etc. is not on that same level, least of all to the point that one of us would delete it. The only submissions that we have deleted, so far, are the ones that have included racial and homophobic slurs.

“[insert OP/commenter] is obviously a rapist/pedophilie!”

If we find that you have accused someone of being a rapist, pedophile, or apologist of either because of their defensive views on noncon/pedophilic ships or roleplay, your comment will be removed and you will be blocked. These are serious accusations that you shouldn’t be throwing at people over fictional content and we refuse to to let you use this blog as a platform to spew such slanderous accusations.

[fair-fae]

In an ideal world, calling light to someone’s harmful behaviors wouldn’t result in angry people latching onto it as an excuse to spew hate at the accused. Sadly, this is far from an ideal world, but it’s the harmful behavior and the hateful attacks that are an issue, and not transparency being brought to behaviors that will likely hurt people. Threats, personal attacks, slurs, doxxing, leaking unrelated personal info, suicide baiting, anon hate, lies and slander--these are all absolutely abhorrent. I do not condone them, I do not participate in them, and I do not associate with anyone who I know does. Conflating raising awareness of abusers and holding them and their enablers accountable with these vile actions is at best ignorant, and at worst a malicious attempt to undermine victims and those supporting them. Asking for accountability, genuine apologies, and changed behavior is not an attempt to make someone kill themselves or run them out of any community and I very sincerely hope that these things are not what anyone is referring to with those claims because it could be not further from the truth. “Call outs” can serve a purpose and that is just an objective fact. When someone has a pattern of behaviors so harmful, so long-standing, and that so many people have been burned by, sometimes the most logical thing to do is warn the community at large. Equating any and every “call out,” any time a victim steps forward, any time someone is concerned with something people should be rightfully concerned about with “bullying” and “witch hunts” and “crusades” and “defamation” and imagined criminal activity is dangerous, either accidentally or intentionally. You are undermining victims, you are depriving them of a voice, you are cutting off potential future victims from information that could have helped them dodge the bullet, you are telling past victims of abuse and concerned bystanders that their safety and worries do not matter as much as your discomfort at seeing something unpleasant on your dash or being upset that your friend’s actions had consequences for them. Victims are not hurt just by abusers. They are hurt by enablers. They are hurt by people and systems who turn away from them when they ask for help. They are hurt by people who try to shut them down when they try to speak up. They are hurt when their attempts to reach out are met with insults and attacks. They are hurt when they are slandered to gaslight them, isolate them, and discredit their stories. Acting like it’s only acceptable for victims to be upset with their abusers and not all those who worsened, aided in, prolonged, or complicated their abuse and that no one but the abuser needs to take responsibility, apologize, and re-evaluate their thoughts and actions is absolutely foolish. In most cases of abuse, more than one person dropped the ball. And I do have to wonder, how many people would be able to avoid abuse entirely or escape it more quickly if their abuser did not have help? Crazy, slutty, thirsty, dramatic, confused, petty. These are words used to gaslight victims and make their stories seem less believable. But more than that, these are accusations women face every day in their lives in a society that normalizes this sort of dismissal and degradation of women and their experiences. It’s okay to abstain from judgment until you have seen proof something. Please understand, automatically insinuating a woman is a liar or somehow incorrect or malicious is not abstaining from judgment. You are taking a side, you’re just not taking the one that you think is being expected of you. If you need proof someone is abusive despite multiple testimonies, then why shouldn’t you need proof these women are being disingenuous before jumping to that conclusion? The problem was never waiting for screenshots. The problem was being more eager to tear down victims (especially women) than to listen to them. Politely brushing off women to their faces and then slandering them behind their backs does not create an environment where women feel comfortable divulging details and collecting screenshots for you. It does not create an environment where they feel like they can continue to come to you privately with their concerns and criticisms. It does not make them feel like they can talk to you about their problems. They did try to address things quietly and privately, both times. It didn’t work. How many times must victims talk at a wall before you acknowledge they made an attempt? I could talk more about enabling and censorship and how much more power it grants abusers and strips from victims but tbh that would be a whole tl;dr post of its own. So instead, on some personal notes? I tag my posts “discourse” so that anything controversial, opinionated, sensitive, long-winded, or negative can be blocked by anyone who doesn’t want to see it. Not to proclaim “THIS IS MINE HOLY DISCOURSE, READ IT AND AGREE WITH IT, PEONS” or... whatever exactly is being alleged there. It’s solely for your blacklisting pleasure. 

As for hurt feelings? I genuinely mean it when I say it, and I do not feel bad for it and will not apologize for it. If acknowledging enabling as a thing and expecting those responsible to, well, take responsibility hurts your feelings? Good. They deserve to be hurt and I hope you will learn something from it. That is not on me. I am not so insecure or idealistic I expect everyone to like me and everything I say or do. People will disagree, people will even be upset sometimes, that’s life, that’s reality. I’m not going to lose sleep over the fact that “enabling abuse is bad” was too spicy of a take for some people. And I wonder, for all your concern about feelings, did you care about the feelings of the victims of both men? The feelings of those let down by G&G’s officers? Did you care when you personally might have reopened those wounds when you denied their failings, protected them, and praised them? Did you care when the victims were undermined when someone proudly proclaimed that she told Kale off so they could have, too, if they weren’t so pitiful! Or did you give her a pat on the back because she was arguing for your side? Did you care about feelings when someone made a post calling people “sociopaths” and throwing around all kinds of personal insults, or did you applaud it and reblog it because it was an argument in your favor? Did you care about feelings when G&G couldn’t issue an apology without trying again to discredit one of the victims who had come forward? That’s the thing about toxic positivity. All the peace and love and happiness and open-mindedness? It only ever seems to apply when you want it to, when it’s your friend, when it’s something you agree with. Otherwise, it goes out the window, or better yet, it’s just a tool to get your way. “Don’t say that, because it makes me unhappy. Don’t do that, because I think it’s mean.” There’s no thought given to anyone else, their wants, their needs. It becomes nothing more than a means to force your will and control the narrative.

Sometimes in life your friends screw up and they gotta deal with that, and you do, too. Just because someone is good to you doesn’t mean they weren’t bad to someone else. Everyone is capable of both. That doesn’t mean you have to stop being their friend. In those times is when they need your love and support the most. However, love and support isn’t denying their flaws and mistakes and failings. It’s not shielding them from the consequences of their actions. It’s not attacking people who are justly critical of them. It’s not coddling them and making excuses for them. It’s helping them improve, helping them learn things, being honest with them with they’ve screwed up. It’s doing all of that no matter how hard it might be and being there for them despite it.

[holdmetightordont-2]

hi :0

i have 300 pages to read, and yet here i am, remaking my tumblr. yep.

hi, my name’s ray. i’m 23 and i started my first year of grad school two weeks ago. i already want to die. 

i’m not sure if this’ll be more of a personal or fandom blog yet. we’ll see. it might be a combination of things. i’m not bothered about followers or anything like that, so there’s no real incentive for me to make this blog known for a certain entity. i do want this blog to be somewhat organized though, so i’ll make sure i tag everything. ya’ll can blacklist any tags you don’t want to see.

i suppose the purpose of this post is to introduce myself, and sort of...blog about my first few weeks of grad school.

i’m tempted to reveal every single aspect of my life, as i do on my personal twitter account. i’ll try to be as appropriate as i can, in case someone irl finds me. i do think i’ll be somewhat recognizable, based on my research and interests, but that’s alright.

based on my username, you could guess that i am/was a big fan of fall out boy. i still listen to their music, but less so these days. about a year ago, i rewatched inception, one of my favorite movies in high school, for the fist time in years. after 8 years, i became obsessed and was pleasantly surprised to see that the fic comm is still around, churning out arthur/eames fics. it’s fantastic. i uh...love inception so much that i...did this...

i had it finished right before i moved for grad school. i’m pretty pleased with it :)

originally, i planned out a somewhat large-scale tattoo with my tattoo artist -- i wanted matching tattoos on my ribs of a rose garden, firstly because they’re one of my favorite flowers, and it would symbolize beast/highlight, the first kpop band i ever loved. then...in march, all that shit came out about junhyung -- who is a piece of shit, by the way, and i no longer really interact with fandom because of all the people who still support him -- so that obviously was called out. tbh, i’m so glad that all was revealed in march, bc i was supposed to get it in may. i would have really considered a cover up if i had gotten it before he was called out, tbh.

anyway! after i got the first half of the inception tattoo, i went to study khmer for the summer out of state. it was...an interesting summer, partly because of the teachers. khmer was h a r d. i hated the state i was in. i actually applied to go that school for my MA and i’m glad i made the decision not to go back in april.

after that, i returned home for a bit, finished off the tattoo, and promptly moved to...paradise. i’m trying to be vague here, but you can probably guess where i moved. it’s just beautiful here. the culture is so rich. i’m surrounded by such good food. i’m very excited about the classes i’m taking, the people in my program (anthropology) are so nice. i’m so so so so excited for my research.

but i’m lonely. i’ve made a few friends, but i feel kind of excluded from the group that formed in my cohort. i can tell that they hang out more together, and haven’t really invited me (though i haven’t sought them out either). i’m just kinda bummed about that. but it’s okay, i’ll make friends. 

i’m also suffering from health issues...i’ve had a hives viral infection for the past two weeks. it’s been fucking hell. nothing really helps except for the steroid i’ve taken the past few days. it just really fucking sucks. i’m itchy all the time, especially at night. in fact, i’m itchy right now, and i’m kind of glad i’m doing the all-nighter since i can’t go to sleep with this anyway. i hope this doesn’t last too much longer.

i fucked up real bad, y’all. i still have that 300 pages to read and weeks worth of khmer to do. my macbook actually broke yesterday, but thankfully i have my old one with me. it’s not a good excuse, really. i’ve been lazy. i hope i can better manage my time this upcoming week. maybe limit all-nighters to once every two weeks, or even better, once a month? that’d be nice.

on another note, i’ve been trying to cook more recently since a bunch of my kitchen supplies finally came in. i made a japanese curry with potatoes, carrots, and kabocha yesteday and it’s pretty good!! i wish i’d gotten a spicier roux though. it’s kind of a miracle that i like it so much, because i almost never eat vegetables. i guess the trick is to simmer the veggies until they’re super soft and absorb all the flavors. 

i also found recipes for a turmeric pad thai, “golden” (turmeric) broth noodles, and egg kimbaps that i’m excited to try!! there’s a small japanese grocery store that’s in walking distance from my dorm, but it doesn’t have all the ingredients i need. i also still need to order a mini fridge. but it’s been working out so far!! also want to make carne asada burritos!! i want to make 3 for this week and have the other 3 frozen so i can sorta meal prep throughout the month. i bought a meat thermometo and i’m just. so excited. because i have never made proper steak before, like the kind that’s rare or medium rare? it’ll be great.

okay, i think this is a good place to stop. it’s nice writing about everything here, cohesively. i’m a bit of a rambler on twitter (not that i’m not here, clearly), but i like that i have all my thoughts in a single place, even if there’s no one to read it. 

wish me luck on my readings! -ray

[hypermoyashi]

Okay, so, hi everyone? I’ve gotten some new followers, which is a bit surprising, and I’m sure some of you are aware of the discourse currently happening the mdzs fandom. Normally, as my about page states, I will not participate in fandom discourse under any circumstances, but as I was personally signaled out in this, I’ll be making an exception just this once. I’ll be placing everything under a cut just so those of you who don’t want this discourse showing up on your dash can avoid it.

Okay, so if you’re unaware, a blocklist was recently created of people in the fandom that minors should avoid/be aware of. I, as well as one of my good fandom friends, was on this list. I will not be posting links to said list in any way, shape, or form, as I believe it is poorly worded and just wholely not handled well in its original context.

I’d like to preface this entire post with one important idea: you curate your own fandom experience. I actually encourage blocking/blacklisting things and people who make you uncomfortable, just be respectful about it. You don’t need to announce it, or let someone know you’re blocking them. If I in any way make you uncomfortable for any reason, and you are uncomfortable talking to me about it to try and fix the problem, then please unfollow me, block me, or whatever will make you the most happy and comfortable. In the end, fandom is about fun, and it shouldn’t be taken too seriously. It shouldn’t be used to hurt people. 

I can’t say I’m not upset that I and my friend were included, and while I don’t know most of the people on that list enough to make a judgment, based on the reasons my friend and I were listed, I don’t believe the judgment of the original creator of the list was wholly sound. For full transparency, I am going to include why I, personally, was signaled out.

The first reason is for my submission here: https://mxtxpositivity.tumblr.com/post/183334608470/fic-rec-realize-what-you-never-knew-by

The fic I recommended is a fic that the friend I previously mentioned wrote, and I recommended it because I enjoy it and I enjoy supporting my friend’s writing. Now, the fic in question is about the junior trio, but it is written in a context where they are older and not minors. To be fair, my friend did not tag for this, and the lack of a tag for it was not something that I, as her beta, caught, either. I don’t particularly intend to debate whether or not it’s okay to write sexual content about young characters after they’ve been aged up, as it’s a rather gray area and whether it will bother you will vary. If it does bother you, however, that’s perfectly valid and I encourage you to avoid it. Blacklisting is a wonderful thing, and ao3 now includes a function to exclude ships.

The second reason I was signaled out in this post is for this: http://hypermoyashi.tumblr.com/tagged/yaoi

And just so it’s clear that I have not altered or cleared this in any way, here’s a screenshot with the time and date in the corner:

I would scroll down to show you guys more of the tag, but there is none. My yaoi tag is just two posts. This is the basis for which I was said to “support yaoi.” I’d like to point out that one post is literally a criticism of the genre as a whole. I have no idea why I tagged the second post as yaoi, but it was reblogged three years ago. It is not something I would reblog and tag that way today. I’ve used the same blog, the same username, for well over seven years now. There is bound to be some stuff here that doesn’t reflect who I am today, and there is also bound to be things that I’ve mistagged or not tagged appropriately in the past. I do not have the energy to clean absolutely everything out, but if you would like to point something out to me, I will be happy to change it. For my purposes, I’m not going to be altering my yaoi tag, in case anyone wants to check it for themselves.

Now, just as an off-topic, I’d like to point out that I’m bi/gray ace. I don’t hate yaoi per say, but I do dislike the picture its common tropes paint of the lgbtqa+ community, as anyone who has spoken with me for five minutes about it can tell you.

This is all I was flagged for, but in the name of transparency, I am also going to include something that, had our original poster of the list seen, would’ve been additional reasons for me to land on the list.

I am writing an A.B.O. fic for HOB. It will also contain an explicit scene in the future, and it contains some pretty heavy triggers such as attempted suicide and CSA/abuse. I know A.B.O. tends to be controversial for many, many reasons, but for the record, all characters retain their full facilities during any and all explicit scenes, on or off screen, and are able to consent or not consent to what is going on. Anything of that nature that happens to a minor does not happen on screen and is appropriately tagged as CSA. I also do not endorse or want minors reading this fic, but I’ll get into that later.

Now, does any of this disprove that I’m a potential danger to minors? No, it does not.

For one, disproving a negative is an impossibility. To demonstrate this, I’ll be using the same analogy my statistics teacher used. You have a field. You’re looking for cows. To find some cows, you divide the field up into twenty sections. Unfortunately, you only have the capability to check five of the sections. You check these five sections, and you don’t find any cows. Can you say, for sure, that there are no cows in the field? Nope. Because it’s impossible to check every section, and there could be cows in the sections you don’t check.

I cannot open up the entirety of my memory and history to prove that I have definitely never hurt a minor. It is absolutely never my intention, and if I have, I deeply apologize for it. But I have no way of disproving a negative because it is mathematically impossible.

Now that we’ve gotten up to this point, some of you might be thinking, isn’t treating such a baseless accusation so seriously, in a way, giving it validity? Well, in a way, sort of. The accusation is entirely baseless, yes, and this is going to be the only time I’m going to argue something like this in this way. It upset me, and it’s there, so I want to address it.

Now, I’m going to reference my about page. Here it is:

The text reads, “Hello! I thought, after about five years of owning this blog, give or take, it was probably time to make an about page.

“I mainly write fanfiction, which is almost always posted to ao3 and linked here unless it’s particularly short. Minors are definitely welcome; I don’t reblog or post N**SFW images or videos, nor do I write smut, though please be aware that this blog is “view at your own risk.” I tag for common triggers and potentially harmful content, so it’s up to you to know your limits and blacklist appropriately. That being said, if you need me to tag anything in addition to what I already do, please don’t hesitate to ask!

“My fandoms right now are mainly Bungou Stray Dogs, Heaven Official’s Blessing, Mo Dao Zu Shi, Hakata Tonkotsu Ramens, Pandora Hearts, Vanitas no Carte, Akatsuki no Yona, and D.Gray-man. Please be aware that although I do have particular ships I like, I’m not really that into shipping as a whole.

“I don’t reblog shipping discourse nor will I interact with hostile shippers. If you would like to talk about shipping with me, please do, just be nice! As a bonus, I love platonic relationships, so please talk with me about those if you enjoy them, too.

“ところで、私の日本語はちょっとわるいですけど、話すのが好きです。

“Finally, I consider this blog to be a safe place for me and others that does not discriminate based on race, gender identity, sexual orientation, mental health, physical ability, national origin, or religion. If that bothers you, please click the “back” or “x” button on your browser.

“With all that out of the way, welcome to my blog! I love talking with people, so feel free to message me or leave an ask. I swear you won’t be bothering me. Happy blogging!”

Now, I am going to edit this at some point, because I have written smut now. It’s not posted, but it’s still something I intend to post. But yeah, as of 3/13 around 5pm, that was my about page, and I have not changed it for quite a while. (Sorry I’m not quite as chipper today ^^”)

One of the links on my about page leads to this page:

Which reads:

A quick guide to my tagging system!

my fanfiction: stuff I’ve written

text post: stuff I’ve made/said

q: things posted from my queue (it is a very long queue)

art by op: If there’s no source, then I’m reasonably certain that this art was created by the original poster. If I’m wrong, please let me know and I’ll delete it imeidiately.

icons: whenever I save an icon, whether I use it or not, I reblog it under this tag

personal and/or ramblings: just me talking. Sometimes I won’t even tag these kinds of posts

— mention: normally reserved for common triggers, i.e. “Donald Trump mention” or “sex mention”

n**sfw warning: as stated in my about page, I don’t reblog n**sfw images or videos, but I do reblog n**sfw fic recs (ie links to explicit content) that is unsuitable for minors. If you’re a minor viewing my blog, please blacklist this tag if you feel the need to!

spoilers: anything and everything I think constitutes a spoiler. Sometimes I’m bad about tagging these, though. I don’t tag for specific fandoms, like “su spoilers” or “bsd spoilers,” so please beware of that.

And, for reference, this is the basis for which I generally rate my fics:

G (General Audiences): Anyone can read this

T (Teen Audiences): Anyone 13+ can read this

M (Mature Audiences): Anyone 17/18+ can read this (16 is fine, too, I think, depending on what the reader is comfortable with. My M rated fics often include dark/sexual themes, though, so 17/18 is the more comfortable range)

E (Explicit): Only people who are 18+ should read this (probably not gonna rate anything this since I don’t write smut unless I just really don’t want to endorse any minors reading it)

Again, this should probably be updated as I have written smut, however infrequent. I try to tag for common triggers, and I have asked here that minors under a certain age not read particular fics. All of my fics that depict unhealthy relationships, darker or sexual themes, or anything that I would be uncomfortable with a minor reading are rated Mature or Explicit, depending.

So all in all, I have tried my best to provide a positive experience to anyone who enjoys my content, and I try to tag so that potentially harmful content doesn’t reach those that it might hurt. I’m not perfect, and I can’t control everything. A minor can still go in and read my Explicit/Mature fics on ao3, no matter how much or how loudly I ask them not to. My content is meant to inspire, to show that life can suck, but in the end, everyone is worth it and continue on.

And, on that caveat, I’d like to point out that I generally take a stance of “create and let create.” Freedom of expression is the greatest gift anyone can be given. Yes, avoid content that hurts you, but please don’t lash out at those who create it. Until you know exactly why they’ve created it, what their history is, and what thoughts or feelings they were working through while creating it, please leave them be. Creators should tag their works so people can avoid content that might be harmful to them, but content that is harmful to one person might be another person’s lifeline.

But the reason I’ve laid this all out is that I want you to judge for yourself. Do I seem like someone you want to be friends with? Do I seem like someone harmful? Do I seem like someone you are indifferent to? Please make the decision that is best for you, and if you happen to want to be friends, please let me know ^^

Now, finally, I hope to see a more positive fandom experience come of this. I say all this, however negative or bleak it might be for me, because it was important for me to work through my thoughts, and I hope that something positive can come of honesty and communication.

Please don’t go after the original poster of the list, if you know who they are. It’s better just to let it go. The person seemed to have had good intentions, however ill-executed they were, and talking to them is only going to create more ill will and negativity for everyone. I believe, at least in part, the reason their list is so unfounded and baseless is because the content they cited genuinely hurts them, and when creating the list, they did not look at the full context of everything they were citing. And, well, context is everything, really. This doesn’t really excuse them, as they still hurt people with a largely unhelpful and thoughtless post, but brewing the negative feelings helps no one. I would also like to state that the fact that the content hurts them is not the fault of any of the creators. If you tag appropriately, but someone doesn’t take the time to blacklist or otherwise protect themself from content they know will hurt them, then that’s on them.

Fandom is a really interesting place. It’s full of so many diverse and wonderful people--minors and adults, lgbtqa+ and allies, tons of different nationalities--we should really take more steps to look out for one another. If there’s anything I could be doing better, please let me know. My experience with the mdzs fandom hasn’t been great up to this point, and I want to change that. I love this show, and I also want to love the people who love it alongside me.

Remember, for every not so great person, there are twenty more lovely people just waiting to meet you. And I hope that, from here on, those lovely people get every good thing they deserve.

[bullet-pointers]

The application is the first part of the process. Occasionally with the aid of a hopefuls chat, it’s how mods get to know muses and muns before the group is finalized. Both the mods’ design of the app and the muns’ filling out of the app are pretty important to making sure a good roster can be put together with minimal pain.

Not all apps have the same sections to fill out or the same requirements for each section. Sections like Character Name or Backstory are pretty much on every single app, while other sections such as Likes/Dislikes and sometimes even Personality may not always be on there. It’s up to the discretion of the mods.

Mun Info

What Is It?: A section for information on the mun. Generally includes name/handle, pronouns, and triggers, and may also include time zone (for scheduling purposes), blacklist/greylist, and squicks.

Notes

Yeahhh, this section is pretty much necessary for all apps. It would be really awkward to not know who’s actually writing these characters. It’s also useful for lowering the odds of OOC drama.

Different groups treat triggers and squicks differently. Sometimes squicks are avoided in the OOC chat and triggers just need to be tagged, sometimes both need to be tagged in posts, and sometimes both are just lumped together in a masterlist. Obviously it’s important to note however they’re handled if you don’t want to make people unduly uncomfortable or worse.

Some apps may have a slot for blacklisted muns, and some may just figure you would list anything like that in an Other section. Either way, if there’s another mun you don’t get along with for one reason or another, be sure to list them. It may affect your chances of getting in, but it’s not worth getting into a group if you’re going to spend the whole time worrying about that other mun. IMO, having a specific blacklist section makes cross-checking apps easier for the mods.

Core Muse Info

What Is It?: The name, gender, appearance, talent, personality, bio, and central beliefs of the muse. This is what sets muses apart from each other and is the central part of the application. That being said, some parts of this section can still be added or subtracted if deemed appropriate.

Notes

Different mods will be more or less worried about appearances when it comes to app judging. It can be hard to compare across apps due to (completely valid) differences in drawing ability, image quality, only having a written description available, etc. Having a clean, detailed image and/or an appearance that reflects important aspects of the character or just like a really cute DreamSelfy can leave positive impressions, though.

Some mods prefer to limit numbers of muses with aliases or foreign origins on the roster. The same goes for fake talents, but including a lot of those can get a little weird, especially if someone’s fake talent is the same as/similar to someone else’s real talent. In general, you really don’t want duplicate talents, possibly with the exception of Reserve Course, which isn’t acceptable to all RPs, anyway. Some mods also like some kind of gender balance in the final roster, so sometimes you might get a liiiittle better odds by watching the hopefuls list and applying a rarer gender, but this isn’t always true, either. Just make sure the FAQ covers these sorts of things.

The personality section can be of different lengths and detail levels, and some RPs may accept bullet points or require specific personality aspects or details. Sometimes this section is nixed altogether if mods feel the other app questions should give them a good enough impression of the character’s personality, though I wouldn’t recommend this personally. Just be sure to provide the information asked for, and make sure it makes sense in the context of the backstory.

The same pretty much goes for the backstory/private bio. Just make sure it makes sense with the personality, and hopefully at least one of the two is unique enough to generate interest. There’s nothing wrong with plain/normal kinds of OCs, but you wouldn’t expect to see several of these in one roster. Also be sure any mod triggers listed on the blog are tagged in these. If your backstory has triggers for every mod, you might be better off apping that muse somewhere else, where someone can actually read the whole backstory.

Public bios have been popular but are still not on every app. These are pretty much always paragraph form, and different groups ask for different lengths. They can be a pain to come up with sometimes, and they can get pretty sticky in cases of fake talents or ???s, but they can also be helpful for conveying information that other characters could be expected to know and get an impression from before the game starts. If you put this section on an app, just be sure they’re eventually actually public on the blog/in the chat somewhere or they’re pretty much pointless busy work.

Muse Miscellany

What Is It?: A smattering of questions with less complex answers than personality/backstory. There’s definitely no golden standard for these, though questions related to motives and Monomachine items are common. Also includes likes/dislikes, favorite things/words, and who knows what else. Filling out some of these may be optional.

Notes

These usually aren’t as tough as the other parts of the app, but they can still be a pain if the app requires a ton of them. It’s best to keep this part fairly short, though it should still ask for anything the mods foresee being important in that specific game.

Some of these, like strengths/weaknesses and likes/dislikes, can be good for making the mun think a little harder about their muse. This can make poor characterization more obvious, but a lot of the time this isn’t super necessary information.

Monomachine items are in most apps and can be tricky to come up with. They’re good for revealing lore that your muse may not voluntarily bring up, for providing something that might brighten your muse’s no-good very bad day, or just for memeing. A lot of the time, activity at the Monomachine or local equivalent tapers off much more quickly than activity in general, so it may be better to require a smaller number of these so the interesting ones have a chance to be released into the wild.

It’s also good to have questions about common motives or unique motives the mods plan to use in the RP (most important person/item, biggest secret, etc.). It can provide mods with a good idea of what motives might be effective for a good portion of the roster. Especially when muns may be slow to respond OOC, it’s good to have this information already on hand. 

On that note, it may be a good idea to ask for smaller details (shoe size, hand size, etc.) that may be relevant for investigations with bloody footprints or things like that. It is very hard to get this information from everyone later if it happens to come up, but sometimes people get a little confused or don’t really know what to put for such specific details on the app, so it’s a mixed bag.

I personally (and I’ve seen it on other apps, too) like to include a question about whether a muse is more likely to be a killer, victim, or survivor and why. If you’re trying to keep the app short, this could be cut, but it’s good to have a balanced roster that isn’t all innocent babies who would never hurt anyone or all seasoned criminals who will probably kill someone before the KG is even announced. It’s also good for when volunteers aren’t forthcoming and you’d rather make sure murders can be IC than just 100% random/fair.

Sometimes this kind of information is to be answered IC, like in an interview. In these cases, you might want to make a note if the character’s answer is truthful or not and why.

Prompts

What Is It?: The bane of muns around the world, it’s a section of questions requiring longer, paragraph answers written in third-person like RP posts. Sometimes applicants are provided an array of prompts and can choose from them, sometimes specific prompts are required, and sometimes this section consists of only one prompt or is absent, though this is rare.

Notes

This section takes a lot of time, but it’s the best indicator of a mun’s writing ability for the purposes of the RP. They can be a huge pain to fill out, and some common prompts may be difficult to write a juicy response to, so it’s best to ask for the absolute minimum. Zero-prompt apps exist and can work out, but I wouldn’t care for that as a mod.

Execution prompts in particular can give muns a lot of pause, and I can personally say I’ve given up on an app that was otherwise finished just because I couldn’t come up with an execution. It may be reasonable to cut this prompt to save a lot of pain; however, it’s really best to have these on hand from the start. They can be very hard to get later, and they’re kind of important to DR games.

MM/traitor prompts should be required for those applying for that position. This kind of question might fit in a different section so it doesn’t have to be written like an RP post, but in general it’s hard to pick out a mastermind if you don’t know the deets of why they would start a killing game. You don’t necessarily have to ask for an MM speech, but you should at least know if this would be a satisfying plot twist and/or fit with the game’s lore.

The ability to choose from a list of prompts can help when a mun doesn’t feel very inspired to write about, say, the muse waking up in such-and-such location with no idea how they got there, or when filling out that prompt doesn’t convey the muse’s personality particularly well. On the other hand, asking for everyone to fill out the same prompt(s) makes it easier to directly compare hopefuls.

On that note, I like having less standard prompts, like reactions to not getting a Starbucks order right or how a muse would deal with a crazy roommate. While these can be tricky to come up with if you don’t want to just rip them off from other apps (which you prrrrobably shouldn’t without permission), coming up with unique situations can help muns more easily demonstrate the personalities of their muses instead of blandly answering the same old questions. That being said, these can be a little weird to work with if the muse would never go to Starbucks and/or leave their house in general.

Conclusion

No two games have the same app, and no two should. Applications are important for getting to know enough information to put together a roster that’s going to work out both IC and OOC. They also gather information for later use in the RP, when muses may be harder to get ahold of or have less time to answer questions. Mods just need to ask for what information they think they’ll need, and muns just need to try to provide it. It’s impossible to foresee everything you’ll need, but asking for every piece of info you could possibly have use for would make a longer app than anyone would be willing to fill out.

Click [here] for a listing of all guides!

[golbatgender]

Triggers, tagging, and recovery

A mentality I’ve seen a lot on tumblr is “triggers are triggers forever and not tagging every last thing is ableist and bad!” This is a dangerous and incorrect understanding of why tagging/warning exists and how it works, and how triggers work, and has way too much potential to be co-opted for bad purposes.

Tagging for blacklisting helps people avoid specific things. It does not need to be done for xkit users for individual words if the word is already in the body text of the post. For example, if someone is blacklisting “bananas,” a text post or caption with the word “bananas” does not need to be tagged. An image of bananas or an image of the word “bananas” would be. Tagging with just the word “bananas” or blacklisting the word “bananas” is a much more sensible strategy than making up a euphemism for “bananas” and then forcing every other user on the site to use that new euphemism and acting like they’re un-progressive if they don’t want to call it “b fruit” just for you. The mobile app does require anything blacklisted to be tagged, but other than that, it’s the same.

Tagging triggers is not supposed to be forever for many things. If your trigger is a common word or object, or something hard to tag, or something so unusual you’d rarely see it anyway unless you’re following a blog dedicated to it, it is anti-recovery and an unreasonable demand on other people to try to have it blacklisted forever. In fact, complete avoidance can make the trigger worse. Instead, for recovery, which I define as “improving function to as good as it can reasonably get,” not “becoming completely normal,” you use the tagging to expose yourself to it in a controlled fashion--you see why a post is hidden, get a moment to brace yourself, and then you unhide it. You can also look at google image searches of it for controlled amounts of time, challenging yourself, to become desensitized to it, especially if it’s a less common thing. After a few months of this, you may still find the word/subject unpleasant but it likely won’t still be a major trigger. You might still prefer not to see it, but it won’t be a disaster if you do. This approach takes some work, but it’s usually worth it to not be triggered so easily.

It is polite to tag some really common or dangerous triggers, such as sexual assault or needles or self harm. Notice how these examples are either extremely common, major traumas, or paraphernalia or acts used to hurt oneself. HOWEVER, you can’t socially require people to do that, or to tag anything else. Acting like any kind of tagging is mandatory and not simply a courtesy has its own problems.

Some people can’t tag. Some people can only tag in limited ways. Tagging requires several extra steps, particularly on mobile, which also limits what posts one can tag. Tagging requires an identification of what needs to be tagged, and that is easier for objects (cats, dogs, snakes) and images than for more abstract concepts (abuse, violence, politics). Moreover, it’s at least partly an elimination of all things on an often very long list, not just a recognition of what’s there, if the tagging is for blacklisting primarily instead of organization. Not everyone is capable of making that kind of an identification on every single post they want to reblog. It’s ableist to act like everybody has to tag everything or they’re bad. It’s also ableist to act like everyone without a disclosed disability or mental illness has to tag--people aren’t required to disclose that to you. It’s also a boundary violation to act like you get to run their blog(s) for them. If someone won’t tag the way you prefer, just unfollow them, don’t bully them. Also, tagging extensively decreases one’s level of privacy; even if you make your blog unsearchable, tags can still be used to search your blog, and some users, particularly ones facing bullying, don’t want that.

Moreover, it’s really easy to co-opt mandatory extensive tagging for bad purposes. I’ve already shown how it can be used to falsely label people as ableist, or be used to violate boundaries. It’s also pretty common for people to act like entire groups of people are triggers, and try to force them to not only tag their own identities as triggers, but to try to force people to use a specific blacklist term that labels those identities as something inherently bad, instead of just blacklisting the identity itself. Because most people don’t understand how blacklist extensions work--it’s basically ctrl-F, it doesn’t only look at tags, it examines every user-visible text string in the page--it’s really easy for bad actors to bully people into tagging way more than they actually need to, sucking up their time and energy and coercing them into labeling themselves as something bad over and over again. If a well-intended social convention is so easily exploited for abuse, something is wrong with it.

I do support the availability of blacklist software and the provision of trigger warnings. However, individuals run blogs for themselves, so you can’t act entitled to warnings from all individual people without violating boundaries. I also believe that even institutions and outreach-focused blogs are only socially responsible for warning for major, common triggers, the same way food companies are only required to bold/list separately the top 8 most common food allergens, and anything beyond that is nice but not something you can fault them for not doing. Further, a blog or book or class or whatever should be free to do a blanket warning for its entirety, instead of individualized warnings for every post or piece of media, and not be faulted for that. Finally, it should be accepted that part of recovery is training yourself to be less triggered by things, and that in most cases someone who doesn’t tag or only partially tags is not attacking or not caring about survivors, that the blame for you being triggered ultimately falls on the person who hurt you, not the re-exposure; and that individuals have the responsibility to protect themselves and strangers don’t inherently owe that level of effort to you.

[purrincess-chat]

*deep breath*

Okay.

I’ve cleared out the rest of my inbox and responded to all of the asks I’m going to on the subject. Anything else was deleted, and also for the time being I have turned off anonymous asks. I apologize to those of you out there who are very sweet and shy who use anon for its intended purpose, and I hate to punish you in the name of a few people who decided to use it to harass me on my birthday, but just for the time being I will not be accepting anonymous asks. If you would like to not have your name attached to something or want to make a request for something without other people knowing then feel free to message me or include in your ask that you don’t want your name to be published and I will make a separate post. I promise I don’t bite, and I won’t judge you at all.

That all being said, I think we should have a conversation about opinions. As I said a dozen times on Friday, it’s perfectly okay to have a different opinion as long as you are respectful. I think that a lot of people nowadays are so quick to become offended when someone doesn’t think the way they do, and they don’t know how to engage in conversation with someone when they disagree. I’ve had some heated debates with friends before, but at the end, even though we still disagreed, we were able to put our differences aside and accept that we both feel differently about it. 

I’d like to remind everyone that we’re talking about a cartoon. It’s not about real life or politics or religion or any other type of hot debate topic. It’s children’s fiction. It really doesn’t matter if someone ships Chlonath or Alyanette or whatever. If those things aren’t your cup of tea, then just ignore them or if they really grind your gears, filter those tags or get an extension that blacklists them. It’s okay to not like something just so long as you aren’t harassing the people that do like that thing. The same applies the other way around too. If someone says on their own blog that they don’t really care about a character or a ship that you really wholeheartedly love, I promise it’s not an attack against you. You can still like something even if other people don’t, and instead of focusing on the people that don’t like something then maybe go out and find the people that do. Never once have I said that no one is allowed to like a certain character or ship just because I don’t. You may not see me reblog things about that particular ship, and maybe from time to time I will reblog or make a post talking about reasons why I don’t like that thing, but again, that doesn’t mean I’m telling you that you can’t like it. 

People are always going to have a different opinion. People are always going to have their reasons for those opinions, and in the case of harmless things like cartoons, it doesn’t really matter if someone likes x ship better than y. It doesn’t impact your daily life at all if some stranger on the internet doesn’t ship your ship, but you may impact their day if you choose to lash out at them. As many of you know, Friday was my birthday, and to receive such hostility on a day that I was just trying to enjoy with my friends and family was frustrating. It made me anxious and upset over something that, in reality, doesn’t even matter. I tried my best to remain as respectful to other people as possible, but it can be hard when people are constantly filling your inbox with rudeness and unkind words just because of the way you feel about digital people. The main point I kept trying to make in my replies was that it’s okay to disagree with me. I am perfectly okay if people disagree with something that I’ve said so long as they do it respectfully and don’t come at me aggressively. I often enjoy conversations with people who see things differently because you can always learn something about that person or about the thing you are discussing, and it can make you see things in a different light sometimes.

 I know that’s asking a lot of tumblr to respect other people’s opinions about a cartoon, but I pinky promise you that your life will be so much better if you learn how to not antagonize people over silly things like ships. If you really feel like you can’t converse calmly with someone, then just ignore their opinions or block them or do whatever you need to do. Curate your own experience. If you choose to seek out things you disagree with or don’t enjoy and tear others down then your fandom experience will always be a negative one, but if you choose to keep scrolling and instead engage the people who like the same things you do then you will find your experience to be much more pleasant. And even sometimes in those groups people will have a different opinion once in a while, but you have to understand that just because someone does or doesn’t like something you do or don’t, it’s not a personal attack against you. Just be respectful of other people’s opinions, and if they aren’t respectful of yours then there’s a block button for a reason. Sending someone anonymous hate will never convince them of your side, in fact it might even drive them farther away from it because they’ll learn to associate that thing with the way you made them feel. 

All that being said, I appreciate those of you who offered your mature opinions in a respectful way to me. If you enjoy something then great, enjoy that thing as much as you want, and you are welcome to come here and celebrate the things that we enjoy together. I always do my best not to tag any type of complaining that I do about ships if I do it at all, and I hope that you all understand that if I’m complaining about something it’s not in any way me saying that you should feel bad for enjoying that thing. My opinions are based on my experiences and my thoughts and the way that thing makes me feel, and sometimes I can’t change that. I always try my best to give most things the benefit of the doubt, and who knows? Maybe one day down the road something will happen in canon that changes the way I see that thing, but until then screaming at me about how wrong I am just for feeling is only going to do more harm than good, and the same applies to everyone. So my plea to all of you is that you will seek out the things you enjoy rather than the things you don’t and to allow people that same opportunity. 

[fictionkinfessionsarchived]

oh mod responses! Lots of them! :v

Anonymous said: Hi, just checking, is there a kinfession signed by -💚 in the queue about Glinda? Just asking because another kinfession I submitted the same day got posted, so I’m just hoping tumblr didn’t eat it! Thanks!!

Oops there is! It will post tomorrow evening though! Or, today's evening, depending on when this hops off the queue!

anonymous asked: hello! could i ask that you please tag mentions of friday the thirteenth (the day itself) for blacklisting purposes? thank you ❤

Oh sure! Can I tag them as #friday 13th cw unless you have a different tag to suggest using!

Anonymous said: the snowflake and fire emoji-sign off asks can 100% be tagged as BNHA instead of osomatsu. if you know anything about bnha then its very obvious but i dont know how much any of the mods know so it could just be that

There's only one mod, me, and no I've never seen anything about the source hence why it's not always tagged right!

Also I don't use signatures when tagging ever at all because anyone is welcome to use the same signature!! Or better yet people can use signatures and also tell me the source? ;_; Assuming you want things tagged right the first time? Because I just go off googling names here! :T

Anonymous said: Mod Party Cat has spoken. Todoroki is now an Osomatsu San character

*in a very todoroki voice like that 'friendship has ended' meme: Sourceship with bnha has ended! Now Osomatsu San is my source!

Anonymous said: July 14th 2018, 5:06:00 am · 2 days ago Question for people who kinshift, do some of your ..... Or some of my kins are protective of eachother and I'll shift into one when the other is feeling unsafe

Anon you need to get yourself over to either, or both, @otherkindfaq and @headmatesfaq ! Both to learn proper fictionkin terminology and to figure out if your kintypes are headmates! Please learn the terms, there's handy guides on @otherkindfaq, the blog admin can help you out, and you might be able to find a way to explain what you're experiencing!

Anonymous said: July 15th 2018, 11:38:00 am · 3 hours ago im the anon everyone feels entitled to form opinions about: ...

You know what? You're probably right, and through a game of telephone everyone was misunderstanding your original point! I'm sorry that happened, as people missing the point of what you're venting about can be pretty irritating!

Which is only one reason why I requested people to put an end to the conversation via ask responses, and to reblog / take it to private messages! Perhaps there is someone in the notes that was part of the conversation who would like to continue it via PMs? Otherwise I would appreciate if you would also let the matter drop before further dogpiling, misinterpreting, and more hurt feelings happens!

Anonymous said: would you promo aesthetic blogs that have full image sources and credits on their moodboards? i dont have one just asking for curiosity sake.

Sure! But the blog admins should put that in the blog description! Often times I'll just completely ignore a blog that's only the promo post and nothing else! Not even examples of things they offer? Also, for clarity, the sources I'm thinking of are to things like flickr, 500px, IG videos, stim blogs, etc., and not just links to google images or weheartit!

anonymous asked: i dont think i’ve ever seen one on your blog but can you tag gifs (just in case) you ever add any to this blog

Oh yeah! I do tag posts containing gifs with the tag '#gif warning'! If there's a different tag that would be better to use, do let me know!

Anonymous said: in addition to the "house fires" tag, could you also tag when houses, buildings, or cities are demolished or otherwise destroyed? the tag "demolition cw" would work, unless you or someone else can think of a better one (sorry it's just a huge trigger of mine and i'm sick of seeing it untagged hhhhh)

Yes of course! I'll use '#demolition cw' like you want! I'll add it to the blacklist tag page too! Also you might be interested in the #apocalypse cw tag, for mentions of apocalypses or otherwise world ending ruination!

anonymous asked: I always get happy when Mod Party cat tags my kinfessions with slendytubbieskin without me even mentioning it like tysm ur the best - 🔺

*boops ur nose* ur the bestest too! I have a few special tag strings saved in a text document so whenever I see you, I smang a paw on the computer screen and whisper 'it them!!!' And then paste your tags into the inbox!!!

Anonymous said: do you only promo kincords or do you also promo kin request blogs???

I promote almost anything? I just don't promo blogs that use uncredited art/fanart, gifs, and photography because hey it's not the fishing hard to do that, you guise...! I also don't promo blogs that accept or encourage f.ac.tk.in! Thouh factives found in Systems are ok though, they're totally different than f.ac.tk.in!

quick edit: actually I don’t promo blogs that offer pendulums for extremely personal reasons that I’m not going to list publicly!

Anonymous said: Hi! Sorry that this is such an obscure trigger, but could you tag anything that mentions Overwatch? It’s a big trigger for me. Anonymous said: (Steven Universe anon) the show itself bothers me a Lot, sorry for the confusion!! it would be okay if it was just tagged as like,, “Steven Universe cw” or something,, i have the “stevenuniversekin” tag filtered so i don’t see the asks but the promo was just. fjfjjfjf im really sorry for this whole inconvenience

Eh, not inconvenient! I can do that! There's actually a few people requesting certain sources to be tagged at every mention, and not just kinfessions, so you're not alone in that! But I will simply be tagging it as the source! Meaning the tag 'stevenuniversekin', or ‘#overwatchkin’ since you both probably already have that one blocked if y’all follow this blog!

Mod Party Cat!

[first-order-general]

Hiiii! Eggs anon here! I’d very much like to RP with you properly, but I’m pretty crap at ye olde tumblr. Please could you point me to some basic resources for like how RP should work or like etiquette etc? Thank you!

// oh shoot okay I really want to help you on this because tumblr rp is a wonderful magical thing let me round you up some resources.

First and foremost, roleplay is for everyone. Having a fancy blog and icons and stuff is all very well but honestly all that really matters is that you show up, you respect your partners, and you do your best (: Having pretty graphics doesn’t really matter in the long run. It’s about telling the best story you can, cooperatively.

some (brief) vocab:thread - the roleplay, itself. usually it takes the form of a post that each user reblogs back and forth and adds onto.mun - the writer behind the charactermuse - the character. meme - prefab activities intended generate new threads. these are often in the form of sentence starters, where a list of possible sentences is what starts the thread.

As far as etiquette goes, the most important thing is just to listen to your partners. A lot of people have lists of rules on their page, so it’s good to read those before interacting with that person. If they have a character bio, it won’t hurt to read that too, even if they’re a canon character, just in case there’s something specific you might need to know when writing together.

the browser extension xkit has some modifiers that make tumblr easier for roleplay (there’s one in particular that allows you to edit posts so that you can keep threads short). This isn’t really necessary, but it can help make things easier, keep things cleaner. If possible, it’s good manners to delete your last response when you write your next one, so that each post doesn’t get too long and clog up everyone’s dashboard. 

Other etiquette things that are good to know: - tagging triggers is appreciated, as well as tagging nsfw. some people prefer to put nsfw under a cut, so that nobody accidentally sees it (I’m a little shy sometimes, so I’m guilty of that)- writing nsfw with minors is illegal in the united states, please don’t tell someone you’re over 18 if you aren’t, it could cause a lot of problems- It’s considerate to have an ooc tag, both for blacklisting purposes and so that people can distinguish between mun and muse. - there’s no real etiquette around roleplaying with duplicates of the same character. some people (I think most people) do it, some people don’t.  It definitely means there are more partners available to you-basically just be nice, you’ll be fine :) 

Honestly, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. There’s some culture to the whole thing, but it’s something everyone learns. There’s tons of resources out there, and if you have more questions you are always free to ask me. Here’s a few of my favourite resources, just for further reading (:

this is one of the best explanations of tumblr rp I’ve seen by a roleplay blog.this and this are my favourite RPH (roleplay help) blogs this is a great place to get iconsthis and this are great places to get themesthis is another great source, mostly for themes but also for other graphics stuff

I can answer more specific questions if you have them, but that first link is so good that I thought typing up a how-to might be a little redundant

feel free to PM me too if you’d rather talk that way n3ngood luck!!

[remelitalia]

How to Use Email Images to Boost CTR

Email is one of the most effective marketing campaigns out there — in fact, the average ROI of an email campaign is 122%.

For those who aren’t afraid to take a few extra steps, email images will spice up your campaign and help your email campaign stand out.

I’m going to show you how to leverage images in email the right way.

Email Images: Yes or No?

You can use email images, but should you?

I want to start by asking a few questions, because these will help you determine if using email images helps or hurts you. Read these and answer yes or no:

Do my images support my brand?

Have I optimized the image size?

Am I using the right number of images?

Am I properly using image alt tags?

Are my emails easily accessible?

Chances are you may not even know the answer to all these questions.

If that’s the case, then you’re not getting all you can from your email images, and this guide will help you.

But it’s not quite that simple. Having email images can boost your email’s aesthetics, but how do you increase email click-through rates with images?

What Is a Good Email Click-Through Rate?

Your click-through rate is the percentage of people who click on an image, link, or video in your email to continue through to your content. The average click-through rate is around 2.5% across all industries.

This number might sound a little low, but keep in mind, we’re talking about click-through and not open rates, which is the number of people who read your email.  

Including images in your campaigns is a great way to increase engagement and improve your chances of driving traffic or even sales.

Images in Email Marketing: The Magic Ratio

Many marketers will tell you there’s a specific magic ratio of image to text, but it’s not always true. What is true is image-only emails will almost always cost you a trip to the spam folder.

Do that too much, and you’ll find your whole domain blacklisted.

That’s no good.

The ideal ratio is around 30-40% image to text. Any higher, you run the risk of triggering spam filters. Any less will make your email difficult to read.

The only way to find out what works for your audience is to test it! Use A/B testing to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Keep Your Email Images Consistent

How many times have you searched for something on Google, found what you wanted, and clicked through to the website only to realize the link didn’t lead where you expected — at all?

It’s frustrating.

The truth is, you might be doing this to people right now without even realizing it.

Your email image needs to align with your brand and remain consistent throughout your marketing campaign.

Make sure when someone decides to open your email, it remains true to your company message, and all the emails look relatively similar.

If you’re using blue headers with a specific font in your campaign, it should match the landing page your visitor ends on.

Personalization and Targeting Are Key

Email personalization is more important than ever.

Why? 

Because there’s more impersonal spammy communication out there than ever before. Personalization changes the way your email appears based on the person you’re targeting.

Just think about it. How often have you received an email that seems like it was made for you?

Not often, right?

This is where you can get ahead of your competition by doing the things no one else is willing to do.

No product or service has “universal appeal,” so you need to narrow down your email images to a targeted audience.

According to Invesp, 59% of online shoppers find products more interesting when you personalize your marketing approach.

So, how do you personalize your email images?

Cater to Repeat Buyers

Find products people need to purchase regularly and appeal to people who bought in the past. Amazon uses this strategy, resulting in 60% conversions from their on-site recommendations.

Here’s an example from Wayfair that was based on browsing history:

Recommend New Products

Recommend products to customers based on their previous buying history. Go the extra mile and even call it “Selections for [insert name].” That strategy helps create an “in-store experience” for your subscribers.

It’s as if you went to the clothing rack and specifically picked out items you thought would look great on them!

Ask Questions

If you’re selling a service or a digital subscription, you can ask your subscribers why they haven’t made a purchase yet. Give them a chance to sound off on what’s holding them back.

Doing this not only helps the email feel more personal and intimate, but it allows you to get feedback on what you could do better.

The ALT Tag Is More Important than You Think

We all know the importance of ALT tags for website images, but what about images in email marketing?

Are you currently using ALT tags properly in your email campaigns?

When the email client doesn’t download images correctly, your ALT tag becomes your lifeline for a few big reasons:

When the email client doesn’t download the image, the ALT text displays to the email recipient.

ALT text provides context if images aren’t loading.

ALT tags make it easier for those who use screen readers and other accessible technology to understand the image.

When all else fails, the ALT tag might be the thing getting the email recipient to open.

How to Create ALT Tags for Emails?

On the back end, an ALT tag looks like this:

<img src=”youremailimage.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”How to Use Email Images in Email Marketing” width=”482px” height=”205″ />

Where it says “alt=” is where your ALT text goes. So, if an email image doesn’t load properly, that’s what will display across the email text area instead of the image.

The process of adding it might vary based on what email client you use. Here’s how to add ALT tags on MailChimp, for example.

Use the Best Format for Email Images

You have three primary formatting options for your email image. PNGs, JPEGs, and GIFs are the most common choices. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each.

PNG

Portable Network Graphics offer a large color palette, which means compressing the file size doesn’t impact the image’s resolution.

Another benefit is that you can add transparent layers, making it easy to embed the image on top of other content. This lets you blend the background image into an email with live text.

The only downside to PNGs is the file size is much larger compared to JPEGs and GIFs because of the image quality.

JPEG

JPEGs offer large image compression, but doing so impacts the quality of your image. When you reduce a JPEG image, it groups each section into larger blocks, which causes the image to become blurry — which isn’t a good look.

While these are the most common image types, I wouldn’t recommend using them for email images.

GIF

You get less color vibrance with GIFs because they use an 8-bit color palette compared to a 24-bit palette with PNGs and JPEGs.

The obvious difference is the animation effect. Using GIFs in your emails increases interactivity and can allow you to show more than one product with the same image.

How to Find the Best Email Images

Finding the right images to get your email message across is crucial. There’s a variety of different types of images you can use, and each has its own purpose. Let’s look at a few.

Charts and Graphs

Providing statistics and data is almost useless without a graphic to back it up. When you provide charts in your email to prove a point, it makes it much easier for the recipient to grasp your message.

Inside’s business newsletter has a Series A funding tracker where you can see what startups recently got funding above $5m:

This easily shows at a glance who got the largest amount of funding, by size and color.

Piktochart is an infographic tool that makes it easy to create free charts (with a watermark). Just enter the data and select the type of chart you want.

Stock Photos

Stock images are the easiest way to add images to your email marketing campaign. There’s a large assortment of sites to choose from like Shutterstock, Depositphotos, and Pixabay.

When sourcing the best image, choose something relatable to your audience. If you’re targeting middle-age moms of toddlers, find images that appeal to your demographic.

Don’t just add images to add images — make sure they have a purpose.

Screenshots

Instead of using a numbered list to explain how something works, turn the process into beautiful imagery with screenshots.

Awesome Screenshot is a browser extension on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox that makes it easy to capture screenshots directly from the browser. You can capture a whole page or a part and download it to your computer.

Personal Photos

Keeping it real and making things personal is never a bad choice. Email marketing is all about pulling back the curtain and showing people what you’re all about.

You don’t need professional photos to make sales, and the realistic and pure nature of personal photos can be what you need.

Illustrated Content

Illustrations are a nice way to expand your possibilities. While you might be able to do a certain amount of things with a product, an illustration can display limitless options while staying true to your brand.

Here’s an example from comedian Nate Bargatze announcing a drive-in tour. After this image, his email contained a text call-to-action with more information.

Consider hiring an illustrator on Fiverr or Upwork to get affordable illustrations.

User-Generated Content

User-generated content is huge. In fact, 76% of customers trust content coming from “average” people versus the brand itself.

UGC helps create trust, and it offers authority from a relatable audience. For example, imagine how an image of someone using your product in their home would outperform a stock photo or a cartoon using it.

Offer rewards to happy customers by having them upload images to social media using specific hashtags and use those images in your email marketing campaigns.

Never Send Image-Only Emails

While images are important – you should never send an image-only email.

Here’s why:

Image Blocking Is Real

If you work in the corporate world, you understand this point. Many companies block images by default, and in fact, 43% of email users have their images turned off.

So, if you don’t have your ALT text game up to par, your campaign won’t load properly.

Email Image File Size

Email image sizes can cause subscribers with slow connections to lag and become unresponsive. If your email takes too long to load, your subscribers are going to click out or even unsubscribe because they can’t get your emails to open correctly.

Email Accessibility Is Changing

More people are using voice assistants to read emails, and these do not recognize ALT text or HTML yet. So, if the user is trying to read your image-only email, you’re out of luck.

So, what’s the ideal email image format?

Background Images with Live Text

Remember earlier, when we talked about the pros of using PNG files for your email images? Here’s where this all comes together.

Background images applied as an element to the email allow you to put live text over it, providing the most accessibility. Even if the subscriber has images disabled, they’ll see the text, which ensures all your subscribers will get something from the email.

Bulletproof Buttons

Including your CTA in your image is a fatal error. If the image is blocked or doesn’t load properly, the button or CTA you have is hidden and completely missed by the recipient.

Using bulletproof buttons allows you to build the button with code, rather than images. So if everything fails and your image doesn’t load, the subscriber will still receive your text and CTA.

Conclusion

Email images are an effective strategy to increase your email campaigns’ success, but you can’t take shortcuts.

Using the right image size, format, and design is critical to ensuring your emails get delivered and get results.

Follow all of the best and worst practices outlined in this guide, and you’ll be well on your way to a higher click-through rate and a repeatable email process that will drive traffic for years to come.

Need some help perfecting your email image strategy? Drop a comment below.

The post How to Use Email Images to Boost CTR appeared first on Neil Patel.

Original content source: https://neilpatel.com/blog/email-images/ via https://neilpatel.com

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How to Use Email Images to Boost CTR

Email is one of the most effective marketing campaigns out there — in fact, the average ROI of an email campaign is 122%.

For those who aren’t afraid to take a few extra steps, email images will spice up your campaign and help your email campaign stand out.

I’m going to show you how to leverage images in email the right way.

Email Images: Yes or No?

You can use email images, but should you?

I want to start by asking a few questions, because these will help you determine if using email images helps or hurts you. Read these and answer yes or no:

Do my images support my brand?

Have I optimized the image size?

Am I using the right number of images?

Am I properly using image alt tags?

Are my emails easily accessible?

Chances are you may not even know the answer to all these questions.

If that’s the case, then you’re not getting all you can from your email images, and this guide will help you.

But it’s not quite that simple. Having email images can boost your email’s aesthetics, but how do you increase email click-through rates with images?

What Is a Good Email Click-Through Rate?

Your click-through rate is the percentage of people who click on an image, link, or video in your email to continue through to your content. The average click-through rate is around 2.5% across all industries.

This number might sound a little low, but keep in mind, we’re talking about click-through and not open rates, which is the number of people who read your email.  

Including images in your campaigns is a great way to increase engagement and improve your chances of driving traffic or even sales.

Images in Email Marketing: The Magic Ratio

Many marketers will tell you there’s a specific magic ratio of image to text, but it’s not always true. What is true is image-only emails will almost always cost you a trip to the spam folder.

Do that too much, and you’ll find your whole domain blacklisted.

That’s no good.

The ideal ratio is around 30-40% image to text. Any higher, you run the risk of triggering spam filters. Any less will make your email difficult to read.

The only way to find out what works for your audience is to test it! Use A/B testing to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

Keep Your Email Images Consistent

How many times have you searched for something on Google, found what you wanted, and clicked through to the website only to realize the link didn’t lead where you expected — at all?

It’s frustrating.

The truth is, you might be doing this to people right now without even realizing it.

Your email image needs to align with your brand and remain consistent throughout your marketing campaign.

Make sure when someone decides to open your email, it remains true to your company message, and all the emails look relatively similar.

If you’re using blue headers with a specific font in your campaign, it should match the landing page your visitor ends on.

Personalization and Targeting Are Key

Email personalization is more important than ever.

Why? 

Because there’s more impersonal spammy communication out there than ever before. Personalization changes the way your email appears based on the person you’re targeting.

Just think about it. How often have you received an email that seems like it was made for you?

Not often, right?

This is where you can get ahead of your competition by doing the things no one else is willing to do.

No product or service has “universal appeal,” so you need to narrow down your email images to a targeted audience.

According to Invesp, 59% of online shoppers find products more interesting when you personalize your marketing approach.

So, how do you personalize your email images?

Cater to Repeat Buyers

Find products people need to purchase regularly and appeal to people who bought in the past. Amazon uses this strategy, resulting in 60% conversions from their on-site recommendations.

Here’s an example from Wayfair that was based on browsing history:

Recommend New Products

Recommend products to customers based on their previous buying history. Go the extra mile and even call it “Selections for [insert name].” That strategy helps create an “in-store experience” for your subscribers.

It’s as if you went to the clothing rack and specifically picked out items you thought would look great on them!

Ask Questions

If you’re selling a service or a digital subscription, you can ask your subscribers why they haven’t made a purchase yet. Give them a chance to sound off on what’s holding them back.

Doing this not only helps the email feel more personal and intimate, but it allows you to get feedback on what you could do better.

The ALT Tag Is More Important than You Think

We all know the importance of ALT tags for website images, but what about images in email marketing?

Are you currently using ALT tags properly in your email campaigns?

When the email client doesn’t download images correctly, your ALT tag becomes your lifeline for a few big reasons:

When the email client doesn’t download the image, the ALT text displays to the email recipient.

ALT text provides context if images aren’t loading.

ALT tags make it easier for those who use screen readers and other accessible technology to understand the image.

When all else fails, the ALT tag might be the thing getting the email recipient to open.

How to Create ALT Tags for Emails?

On the back end, an ALT tag looks like this:

<img src=”youremailimage.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”How to Use Email Images in Email Marketing” width=”482px” height=”205″ />

Where it says “alt=” is where your ALT text goes. So, if an email image doesn’t load properly, that’s what will display across the email text area instead of the image.

The process of adding it might vary based on what email client you use. Here’s how to add ALT tags on MailChimp, for example.

Use the Best Format for Email Images

You have three primary formatting options for your email image. PNGs, JPEGs, and GIFs are the most common choices. Let’s look at the pros and cons of each.

PNG

Portable Network Graphics offer a large color palette, which means compressing the file size doesn’t impact the image’s resolution.

Another benefit is that you can add transparent layers, making it easy to embed the image on top of other content. This lets you blend the background image into an email with live text.

The only downside to PNGs is the file size is much larger compared to JPEGs and GIFs because of the image quality.

JPEG

JPEGs offer large image compression, but doing so impacts the quality of your image. When you reduce a JPEG image, it groups each section into larger blocks, which causes the image to become blurry — which isn’t a good look.

While these are the most common image types, I wouldn’t recommend using them for email images.

GIF

You get less color vibrance with GIFs because they use an 8-bit color palette compared to a 24-bit palette with PNGs and JPEGs.

The obvious difference is the animation effect. Using GIFs in your emails increases interactivity and can allow you to show more than one product with the same image.

How to Find the Best Email Images

Finding the right images to get your email message across is crucial. There’s a variety of different types of images you can use, and each has its own purpose. Let’s look at a few.

Charts and Graphs

Providing statistics and data is almost useless without a graphic to back it up. When you provide charts in your email to prove a point, it makes it much easier for the recipient to grasp your message.

Inside’s business newsletter has a Series A funding tracker where you can see what startups recently got funding above $5m:

This easily shows at a glance who got the largest amount of funding, by size and color.

Piktochart is an infographic tool that makes it easy to create free charts (with a watermark). Just enter the data and select the type of chart you want.

Stock Photos

Stock images are the easiest way to add images to your email marketing campaign. There’s a large assortment of sites to choose from like Shutterstock, Depositphotos, and Pixabay.

When sourcing the best image, choose something relatable to your audience. If you’re targeting middle-age moms of toddlers, find images that appeal to your demographic.

Don’t just add images to add images — make sure they have a purpose.

Screenshots

Instead of using a numbered list to explain how something works, turn the process into beautiful imagery with screenshots.

Awesome Screenshot is a browser extension on Chrome, Safari, and Firefox that makes it easy to capture screenshots directly from the browser. You can capture a whole page or a part and download it to your computer.

Personal Photos

Keeping it real and making things personal is never a bad choice. Email marketing is all about pulling back the curtain and showing people what you’re all about.

You don’t need professional photos to make sales, and the realistic and pure nature of personal photos can be what you need.

Illustrated Content

Illustrations are a nice way to expand your possibilities. While you might be able to do a certain amount of things with a product, an illustration can display limitless options while staying true to your brand.

Here’s an example from comedian Nate Bargatze announcing a drive-in tour. After this image, his email contained a text call-to-action with more information.

Consider hiring an illustrator on Fiverr or Upwork to get affordable illustrations.

User-Generated Content

User-generated content is huge. In fact, 76% of customers trust content coming from “average” people versus the brand itself.

UGC helps create trust, and it offers authority from a relatable audience. For example, imagine how an image of someone using your product in their home would outperform a stock photo or a cartoon using it.

Offer rewards to happy customers by having them upload images to social media using specific hashtags and use those images in your email marketing campaigns.

Never Send Image-Only Emails

While images are important – you should never send an image-only email.

Here’s why:

Image Blocking Is Real

If you work in the corporate world, you understand this point. Many companies block images by default, and in fact, 43% of email users have their images turned off.

So, if you don’t have your ALT text game up to par, your campaign won’t load properly.

Email Image File Size

Email image sizes can cause subscribers with slow connections to lag and become unresponsive. If your email takes too long to load, your subscribers are going to click out or even unsubscribe because they can’t get your emails to open correctly.

Email Accessibility Is Changing

More people are using voice assistants to read emails, and these do not recognize ALT text or HTML yet. So, if the user is trying to read your image-only email, you’re out of luck.

So, what’s the ideal email image format?

Background Images with Live Text

Remember earlier, when we talked about the pros of using PNG files for your email images? Here’s where this all comes together.

Background images applied as an element to the email allow you to put live text over it, providing the most accessibility. Even if the subscriber has images disabled, they’ll see the text, which ensures all your subscribers will get something from the email.

Bulletproof Buttons

Including your CTA in your image is a fatal error. If the image is blocked or doesn’t load properly, the button or CTA you have is hidden and completely missed by the recipient.

Using bulletproof buttons allows you to build the button with code, rather than images. So if everything fails and your image doesn’t load, the subscriber will still receive your text and CTA.

Conclusion

Email images are an effective strategy to increase your email campaigns’ success, but you can’t take shortcuts.

Using the right image size, format, and design is critical to ensuring your emails get delivered and get results.

Follow all of the best and worst practices outlined in this guide, and you’ll be well on your way to a higher click-through rate and a repeatable email process that will drive traffic for years to come.

Need some help perfecting your email image strategy? Drop a comment below.

The post How to Use Email Images to Boost CTR appeared first on Neil Patel.