#Writers Must Have a Website

[jolenes-book-journey]

What Activities Will Help You Gain More Readers

What Activities Will Help You Gain More Readers? Why do we have to do this Digital Marketing Stuff? Yes, I believe that our readers should magically find us, purchase our books and then give us glowing reviews. Sadly, that is not going to happen. Regardless of your level of experience as a writer, connecting with readers is the ultimate goal. In today’s competitive literary world, it is crucial…

[silverskye13]

In which there is a gift.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

been on a rich journey of niche productions of yore, found these production pics ft. will roland as [?] in "zombies, actually....an undead musical" performed at the new orleans fringe festival in 2011

[warlordfelwinter]

having a morning

[paganinpurple]

AO3 Etiquette -UPDATED

Based on both decent and not so decent replies, I have made some changes to my original post below.

It would seem a whole new kind of AO3 reader/writer is emerging and it is becoming clear not everyone quite understands how the website community works. Here is some basic guidance on how most people expect you to go about using AO3 to keep this a fun community archive that funtions correctly:

As well as likes, kudos is for when the story was interesting enough to make you finish reading. If it sucked or was badly written, you probably left. If you finished it, you liked it - so kudos.

If you really liked it, you should try to comment. It can be long and detailed or a literal keysmash. Writers don't care, we just love comments.

No critisism unless the author has specifically asked or agreed to hear it (so use your notes to say if you want some constructive feedback). Even constructive critisism is a no-no unless an author note tells you it's okay. No, posting it online is not an open invitation for that. Many people write as a fun hobby or a way to cope with, among other things, insecurity and just want to share. Don't ruin that for them. I've seen so many authors just stop writing coz they can't handle the negative emotions the critism brings, and it's only meant to be a fun thing shared for free (pointing out tagging errors is not included in this).

Do not comment to ask the author to write/update something else. It's tacky and off-putting and will probably have the opposite effect than the one you want.

There is no algorithm, it's an archive. Use the search and filter function to add/remove the pairings/characters/tropes etc. you want to read about and it will find you the fics that fit the bill.

For this to work, writers must tag and rate stories. This avoids readers finding the wrong things and missing the stuff they want. I don't care how cringy that trope is in your eyes - it gets tagged.

The tag exception is if you don't want to tag a million things or spoil your story, you can rate it as "chose not to use warnings," and maybe tag the bare minimum.

Don't censor tags. How can someone exclude a tag if the word isn't typed out correctly? There are no content bans for terms so don't censor them.

If the tags are mostly content/trigger warnings, especially if they are things considered very fucked up or graphic, you might want to use "dead dove - do not eat" to ensure people know that you're not messing around with tags and what they get is exactly what you've warned them about.

Character A/Character B means a ROMANTIC or SEXUAL relationship of some kind. Character A&Character B is PLATONIC, like friendship or family.

Nothing is banned. This is an rule because banning one thing is a slipperly slope to banning another and another, until nothing is allowed anymore. Do not expect anyone to censor for you. Because of the tags system, you are responsible for your own reading experience.

People can create new chapters and sequels/fic series any time after they "complete" a story. So it's considered perfectly normal to subscribe, even to a finished story. You can even subscribe to the author instead just to cover your bases.

Do not repost stories or change the publishing date without an extremely good reason (like a complete top to bottom rewrite or an exchange youve written for going public). It's an archive, not social media. No one cares what's the most recent, only what fits their tag needs.

Instead of deleting a story you wrote if you hate it - consider making it anonymous or orphaning it so others can still enjoy it, without it being connected to your name anymore. If you still want to delete it, fair enough.

It's come to my attention that metaworks ARE allowed on AO3, which is something I wasn't aware of. So if you do post an essay or theory, please tag it as such so others can choose to search for it or exclude it. Art is also allowed.

The only reason this archive works is because NON ONE PROFITS. Do not link to your ko-fi or patreon or mention monetary gain in any way or you violate the terms and risk having your account removed. If anyone does link, it leaves the archive open to people claiming it's for profit and having the whole thing removed.

I KNOW there's plenty more I missed but I'm trying to cover most of the basics that people seem to be struggling with.

I invite anyone to add to this, but please explain, don't berate.

[orionsangel86]

There is a phenomenon happening on Tumblr right now which may be a product of the Twitter exodus or maybe its just modern fandom mentality vehemently rejecting the old, but you guys have GOT to stop being so damn MEAN about fandom.

There are posts circulating on Tumblr right now hating on so many aspects of fandom. Yeah we all know the incorrect quotes format can be cringe and most of the time its the same quotes used for every fandom ever reducing the characters to stereotypes. Yes we know most fandoms scramble to ship the two basic white guys over all the other characters. Yes we know your blorbo probably Does Not Fucking Say That. Yes we know A/B/O is weird AF (especially now its breached containment and found its way into mainstream hetero erotica). Yes we know SuperWhoLock was ridiculous and attempts to make modern shows into a new SuperWhoLock have got old fast.

But do you have to constantly drag these things all the time? Why is it suddenly cool and popular to ridicule and criticise and hate on peoples fun?

Let people be cringe

Let people play in the fandom sandbox

Let people have their fun

Not everything has to be an intellectual critique and it doesn't make you a better person to constantly shit on fandom ON THE FANDOM WEBSITE

Fandoms can be problematic, toxic, and infuriating at times. But all the negativity isn't making things better. Yeah okay some aspects of fandom can be annoying, but must we have so many call out posts go viral on here specifically for hating on parts of fandom culture? Yet people wonder why fandom creators are quitting and there isnt as much art and interaction on here as there used to be.

If you see another negative post shitting on aspects of fandom cross your dash, maybe think before you reblog it. Maybe ask yourself if that post may be hurtful to a mutual? Perhaps youve got a mutual who writers A/B/O or CharacterxReader fanfiction who doesnt wanna see your reblog of the callout post stating reader×character fanfic is gross, or perhaps your mutual creates fun text posts applying quotes to their fave characters and youve just reblogged a 90k+ note post calling them cringy and overdone.

Just THINK please. Its not necessary. We've got to be KINDER to each other. Please don't let this place become like Twitter. Twitter was a toxic cesspool where no one had anything worthwhile to add to the discussion, no one created, everyone was just screaming angry rants into the void. Dont let tumblr become like that, because it will be the death of this place. And where will you go to find fanart and gifsets of your blorbos then?

[dalishious]

About Davrin's little blurb on the official website for Dragon Age: The Veilguard...

"Though he was raised in a Dalish clan, he craved excitement and adventure. He'd rather make history than reflect on it."

There's actually a lot to unpack about these two sentences.

First off, placing the word "though" in front of being "raised in a Dalish clan", gives such a thing a negative connotation. The word "though" is used in a way that sounds like "despite", as in, somehow wanting excitement and adventure must go against being Dalish. This correlates with sentence that follows. "He'd rather make history than reflect on it." The word "rather" is yet again used to separate Davrin from his Dalish origin. All together, this promotional description of Davrin is insisting that he is "not like other Dalish".

Now, obviously the game is not out yet, so we do not have total confirmation on what the nature of Davrin's relationship to his culture is really like. But there is absolutely something to be said about promoting the character this way, regardless of however he actually turns out in game. There is absolutely something to be said about how, as @/the-eldritch-it-gay put in their tags here, why do writers feel the need to make fantasy minorities hate or distance themselves from their culture? As a selling point?

Maybe this is completely misleading bullshit, maybe it isn't. All we have to go by, is what BioWare chose to say here, and their past track record with elves:

Zevran may talk about his mother in a font way, but he still has the line, "Too many of our kind think we deserve pity simply because we have failed to defend ourselves."

Velanna is one of the two elves we've had who is overtly proud of her culture, yet she is treated like she is unreasonable and too angry because of it.

Merrill too, is proud of being an elf, and of being Dalish. The story punishes her left and right for this, treats her like a child, and in the end she is either ostracized from her clan or they end up dead because... she cared too much?

Fenris has pretty much zero engagement with elven cultures, and spends his time ridiculing Merrill for being proud of hers.

Solas complains about the Dalish from the start, and says plainly that he does not see himself as having anything in common with elves of current time. "Oh, you mean elves" he says, when the Inquisitor asks how he feels about his people; the thought does not even occur to him.

Sera is... Sera is a character who could have been a really interesting examination of overcoming internalized racism, if she was written by someone competent with the subject. Instead, she just cringes at everything "too elfy" through the entire main game, and only has a single line in Trespasser that hints that she may have a personal struggle going on. But it's still left unresolved.

That's a lot a lot of negativity. So of course seeing a suggestion that more is to come with Davrin has people wary and tired.

Let us also consider the fact that Davrin is overtly Black as well, and what that means. Acting as if one must disregard history in order to make it, as his description so claims, is bullshit. It sounds too much like promoting gentrification/assimilation in my opinion; the idea that you cannot keep your culture if you want to be successful.

I also think that it goes even deeper, on a meta level - I think that BioWare is afraid people will not be able to like or relate to Davrin, if he is "too ethnic". I think that BioWare is taking this Black character and instead of questioning how he can best represent marginalized fans - particularly Black fans - they are questioning how to make him more relatable to white fans. And the only answer to that is to, of course, make him seem like he is an exception to marginalization through separating him from his people.

I am still holding onto hope that Davrin will overall be an interesting, well-written character. And I sure as hell will still be defending him from the people who are already hating on him or ignoring him completely because of their racialized biases. But that does not exempt BioWare, and specifically his writer, John Dombrow, from any criticism. This is not about Davrin the character, this is about BioWare the company's handling of Davrin the character. And in that regard, they're not off to a great start with this.

[lizardsfromspace]

The factchecking this cycle has been so profoundly incompetent that it's finally getting some real backlash, but the extent of it really should be clear. So much of factchecking is not based in reality, but in a kind of contorted moon logic that can find true claims to be false and false ones to be true based on wildly inconsistent reasoning.

But this one really shows off some of the base assumptions of modern factchecking, and also bc it got a community note which is funny:

Let's take this one by one

The idea that quotes have any options but "he said it" or "he didn't say it". It is a binary, maybe with a third option of "it was clipped wildly out of context", but something you see constantly now is the idea that quoting someone's direct words without deceptive editing or removal of context can somehow be false

Pointlessly noting that it's from 2016, and that it's not clear if he currently believes it. What the hell does that matter to the question of if he said that in 2016? People understood that the "dig up someone's tweets from when they were 17" thing was inane, but they counter-balanced by apparently deciding that citing anything someone said more than about six months ago is Misinformation if we don't have objective evidence they would say the exact same thing now, even if there's no evidence they believe anything else. Analyzing someone's high school tweets and analyzing something the literal President said seven years ago are not equivalent

Noting that he walked it back following criticism. You see this constantly, too. Again, what does that matter to the question of if he said it? But this is just taken as a given now: if someone gets blowback and says "whoops I didn't mean it", that should be taken at face value. Effectively, Politifact is letting Donald Trump self-factcheck Donald Trump: their only evidence (and I read the article too) this is at all false is that Donald Trump said Donald Trump didn't really mean the words he said, so they must agree with the judgment of Donald Trump that Donald Trump was treated so unfairly here.

A general confusion over what factchecking is. If you're asked "did Donald Trump say this in 2016?", your sole job is to determine if he really said that in 2016. It's not to divine if he, deep in his heart, still believes it now. That's completely irrelevant.

The two guiding principles of modern factchecking are this: one, it's strongly rumored - and also, obvious to everyone literate - that the major factchecking sites have either standing orders to find equal numbers of lies on both sides, or are staffed by people who think it's their job to hold both sides equally to account (the exception is Snopes, whose writers are just terrible at their jobs). In the name of this, Donald Trump can say something on camera only for it to be judged false, while a Democratic politician can be excoriated for mildly rounding down a figure in a speech. A factchecking website once determined that saying climate change was a threat to life on this planet was a lie, because climate change won't kill all life on this planet. Politifact's lie of the year one year was a Democrat saying a Republican plan would "end Medicare as we know it", which was judged to be a lie because it wouldn't literally end Medicare completely. Figurative language needs to be scoured, comments said directly on camera need to be made fuzzy. This makes factchecking sites worthless at factchecking, because what even is this?

It's not true that Donald Trump will refuse to accept the election results, because he's merely said he won't accept, and has said if he loses, it's only because the election was fraudulent. Okay, what, do you demand that people prove he said his plans in exact words? What is the actual, functional difference between "he said he won't accept it" and "he said if he loses it's because he won and they stole it from him, and he won't commit to saying he'll accept it"? What are you talking about, who is this for? When you go to the Logic and Reason Site for Debunking & end up having to puzzle out their convoluted logic and reasoning to understand anything, the plot's been lost a bit

The other is the idea that context is exonerating. Any context at all. If they said they didn't mean it, partially false. If they walked it back, partially false. If they said it was taken out of context, partially false. If they said it a certain number of years ago, partially false. If there's a longer video, even if it shows functionally the same thing, pants on fire, five pinocchios.

Again, we have footage of Trump saying this, and the footage in the ad is unedited, and the factchecking website is declaring something that OBJECTIVELY HAPPENED WITH HARD EVIDENCE IT HAPPENED didn't really happen bc we don't know his heart, maybe he believes something different now, we simply can't know for certain. But we do know for certain. Because "false" at least used to mean "didn't happen". But factchecking sites are now on those Beyond Belief definitions of "true" and "false" I guess

But the real problem here is that they just accept anything someone being factchecked says at face value. Because, and I can't believe I'm saying this

It seems like the people paid to determine if other people are lying...have forgotten that people lie sometimes

[renthony]

On "Consuming Content"

Every now and then a post crosses my feed that follows the vein of, "you have to do things other than consume media or else you'll be a dumb person who doesn't know anything about how the real world works and does nothing but pointless fandom stuff."

I hate those posts for three major reasons, not counting the inherent ableism and classism of "you must have approved Smart People hobbies or else you're worthless" rhetoric:

You don't know what people do or talk about outside of what you see on their social media. Responding to fandom communities on a fandom-driven website as if all these people are one-note cardboard cutouts of people is asinine. In many cases this genre of post feels like repackaged 2012 tumblr "not like other girls" and hipster discourse. Yes, yes, you think you're better than everyone else on this website because your hobbies are less mainstream, more morally pure, and have greater intellectual merit, we get it.

What do you even mean by consuming content? As someone who purposely avoids using the phrase "consuming content" because I find the term too vague to be useful, please be more specific. Are you including every single form of media engagement and art enjoyment? Are you just talking about mainstream TV and film? What about novels? Plays and scripts? Nonfiction books and instruction manuals? Do you mean to imply that going to a book club is a worthless non-hobby? Are you including academic reading? Are you including going to the art museum? Going to the theatre, concerts, or other performances? Taped liveshows? Watching sports events on TV? Are you including news media? Are you including YouTube tutorials about how to do various tasks, crafts, or other hobbies? Are you including trade magazines? Are you including industry publications in various fields? What constitutes "content," and what constitutes "consuming" in this discourse? Define it. "Consuming content" is a nothing phrase that people use to mean multiple different things depending on what they, personally, judge as valid media. It's a buzzword at best, and when the same buzzword can be used to describe both "idly scrolling social media" and "reading and discussing a book," it's a meaningless phrase.

As an artist and author, if engaging with media is bad and worthless, am I supposed to conclude that making it is equally worthless? If "consuming content" is a bad, lazy, worthless, fake hobby, what makes creating art a worthwhile pursuit? If I am constantly being told as an artist that engaging with media isn't a worthwhile pursuit in its own right, and the people who want to engage with my art are just brainless fandom losers, what incentive do I have to make that art anymore? Furthermore, to everyone reading this paragraph and thinking, "that's not what content creation is," I refer you to bullet #2: If the phrase "make content" can be used to mean "low-effort posts made to advertise cheap and useless products" as well as "being a novelist" or "getting a gig as a writer on a TV show," it's a meaningless phrase.

None of that is even getting into issues such as the way influencers are preyed on by both brands and targeted harassment from trolls. Influencer culture has major issues, but boiling those issues down to "stupid vapid young people who are too lazy to make real art or get real jobs" (which is a mindset I see frequently online) is unhelpful. So many people pursue influencer deals because they're living in poverty but are skilled at various social media and advertising related tasks, and just like any worker, they're being exploited because they need to eat. Labor rights for influencers are a huge topic that entertainment industry unions have been actively discussing and working toward. (Related links for further info: [x] [x] [x] [x])

"Consuming content is not a hobby" is a worthless statement unless you define what you mean by both "consuming" and "content." Quite frankly, you also need to define "hobby," because if you're putting requirements on what is and isn't allowed to be a "real" hobby, you mostly just seem like you're moving goalposts and defining "worthwhile hobby" as "hobby I, personally, think is good." Use more specific language to articulate your actual problems with the entertainment industry, the art world, influencer culture, or whatever else you're actually upset by.

Media and fandom can involve any number of enriching, satisfying hobbies that take up a perfectly acceptable and healthy space in someone's life. If you aren't into it, go find hobbies you do like and stop policing how other people spend their precious free time in this nightmare hellscape of a world.

[wickedlittleoz]

an artist i follow got an ask about whether it was alright to use their art as covers for fanfic bookbinding and i'm. sorry i must have missed this discourse but since when are people outright printing out other people's work and binding them into books? do you contact and get author's permission (sure as fuck hope so)? and how do we writers feel about that, because i certainly feel very uncomfortable with that idea. i mean not to spoil the artistic expression of bookbinding because it's beautiful work that i most certainly could not do, but. you can access them stories any time you want on the websites where they were originally posted. why print them? again i mean i get the pleasure of holding & reading physical books, i much prefer that too, but like. get some books i guess? sorry i come from a place of honesty and tbh surprise and confusion about this whole thing. someone tell me how we're feeling about this. someone explain to me why it's being done. i just wanna understand

[obsessivevoidkitten]

The Landlord’s Property

Male Alpha Landlord x Female Omega Reader (CW: Non-con, overstimulation, oral sex, vaginal sex, female reader, crying, reader tied up, a/b/o dynamics, fingering, praise, general yandere behavior, scenting, musk, pheromones, chloroformed reader, panty stealing, biting, claiming) Word Count: 7.2k (This may be the longest fic I have ever written, certainly up there, I hope everyone enjoys it, it was a commission from @dusty-void) 

You stared blankly at the computer screen, your face illuminated by the harsh white glow of your writing program, completely empty, in front of you. Though you had been trying for hours you could simply not will your brain into action and get any words typed out, now that it was past 3am in the morning you let out a defeated sigh as it had become painfully clear that simply no work was going to get done tonight. You were a freelance writer. You worked from home completing various assignments from content mills, websites, and even dabbled in short stories. The pay was not particularly glamorous, but you had managed to find a very cheap duplex to rent, and it helped that your landlord was very lenient and did not seem to mind that your rent payments were frequently just a bit late. Though you were still always worried about what would happen if he suddenly decided he had had enough. You turned off your computer and settled into your unkempt nest, hoping in vain that you could put your worries aside and be able to sleep peacefully for once. When you woke up from your fitful sleep you realized that you had actually managed to wake up later than you had intended. Feeling almost as if you had not slept at all you forced yourself up from bed and threw on some low effort clothing, you were just going to be alone and in the house all day so you figured it did not really matter what you wore. After getting dressed you trudged your way into the kitchen, starting your late morning off right with your breakfast of choice, pop-tarts. You quickly ate your sugar packed meal before making some coffee and dragging yourself to your work desk and booting up your computer. Your penchant for quick, convenient, sugary meals was probably what had lead you to be as chubby as you were, but you pushed that uncomfortable thought aside for now. You heard your fire alarm go off in its unmistakable shrill tone, once again letting you know that its battery was low as it had been periodically for the past two days. You made another mental note to order some batteries or something and get it fixed. Before getting to work you text your several online friends, you did not go out too much, but you very successfully maintained many good online friendships. After a sending a few hellos and making a plan or two to play a game sometime later this week with some buddies you opened up your writing programs and after a few minute of once again staring blankly at the blinking cursor your brain finally whirred into action and you actually started to make some solid progress. Just when you started to really hit your stride your doorbell rang. The first time you ignored it but after a couple rings you grumbled and figured you would just have to answer it. You grumbled and got up, just knowing this would throw off the roll you were on. You answered the door and saw your alpha landlord Nathan smiling and looking down at you. You were immediately worried you had done something wrong but before you could say a word he spoke. “Heya, I just happened to hear your fire alarm beeping since the wall it is on is adjacent to mine, and I figured maybe you needed some batteries and help reaching it, since omegas tend to be a bit short.” There was nothing angry or even annoyed in his tone, there never really seemed to be, he was his normal amicable self just genuinely offering to help. His green eyes bright and a friendly smile on his face. Even his vibrant orange hair seemed happy. You felt bad though because you were sure you must have annoyed him with how inconsiderate you had been, you had not even thought of him being able to hear the alarm. He was probably just concealing his displeasure. “O-oh, um, thanks that’s too kind of you, I am so sorry for not getting to it sooner,” you stammered while averting your gaze. “Hey, it’s no problem at all.” He went into your kitchen and noticed all the boxes of junk food as well as the wrappers that were in the garbage can which was close to where he had to stand to change the batteries. It was not that he was trying to be nosy or judgmental, but it made him a bit sad that you had no one taking care of you properly. You were a cute omega and probably couldn’t afford good food or did not have the time to prepare it with how busy you were with writing. And you must have been very busy, he could tell by the dark eyes and by the scent of your stressed out pheromones that you probably were not getting an adequate amount of sleep. It tugged at his heart, you were trying so hard, you clearly put yourself through a lot and had trouble with sleeping, eating habits, and getting the rent in on time. It was becoming more and more clear to him that what you really needed was an alpha helping you out and maybe being your mate and taking better care of you than you were capable of taking care of yourself. “Okay, all done, but if you need anything else please don’t hesitate to ask me okay?” He left your home and went back to his, telling himself that he would do a lot more to check up on you in case you were too scared or nervous to ask for help. You heard his words and mumbled out an affirmation that you would definitely ask if you needed something, but you knew that wasn’t true, you tended to just ignore most little problems and inconveniences until they either went away completely by themselves or until they could no longer be ignored. There were light bulbs that needed changing, your AC unit needed to be looked at, and you could probably be a bit tidier, for example. All things you needed to do yourself but were just too depressed and anxious to actually do. You were lucky Nathan did all the outside work, diligently cleaning the gutters, power washing the building, raking the leaves, and mowing the lawn even on your side of the building. And he was always in a nice tank top showing off his powerful body, but that surely wasn’t for your benefit, you thought. He was an alpha after all, and they always enjoyed exposing their muscles whenever given the chance. Of course he really was doing it to attract your gaze, though it never seemed to work. No matter how many times he made advances or hinted that he wanted to be friends you seemed to be completely uninterested. You didn’t check him out when he was doing physical outdoor labor, you did not pay attention when he was working in your unit, and you did not even seem to notice his scent, which was always powerful after working up a sweat for you. He even often worked out before coming over just to make his pheromones really strong. His mind could not entertain the thought that you might be uninterested though, not after all he did for you. You probably just needed more attention to feel comfortable with him, you were probably just too shy and insecure and needed a bit more positive attention and encouragement, so he decided that he would continue to help you as often as possible in the belief that you would eventually come around. Weeks passed since he fixed your alarm, and he was beginning to think that you would never approach him. Nathan was yearning for any excuse to go in your home again, where the air smelled so full of your scent and where he could hear that lovely voice of yours, but there was never a reason to go over there of his own initiative and you never approached him. The increasingly desperate alpha decided he would have to make his own opportunities for you to come to him. He knew when you would go on one of your infrequent walks to the corner store. They were like clockwork, you always went on the same days of the month. You normally were gone at least thirty minutes when you left and that gave him more than enough time to sabotage your home. He knew it was wrong to do it, but if there was no other way to get you to approach him then he had to. Nathan was sure that you liked him, you were just too shy and unsure of yourself to let him know you were noticing his advances, and this would also be another good way to show how handy and helpful he would be as your mate. To show he could take care of you. Nathan made sure to scrub himself clean of any scent that could potentially be left as evidence of his actions, then, as soon as you were gone and were out of sight down the road he went to your side of the duplex and rushed to your breaker panel. He flipped a breaker switch and replaced one of your fuses with a blown one, thus shutting off electricity to a large portion of the building. The alpha seriously doubted that you would know what to do to fix the problem and even if you did you probably did not have any fuses laying around. You did not exactly give off a prepared and organized vibe. As he started to leave a curious smell hit his nostrils, beckoning him into your room. He was powerless to resist seeking out the source of that heavenly aroma, that aroma that smelled so purely of you. He followed the scent to your bedroom and slowly opened the door, he knew such an invasion was even worse than what he had already done, but the smell was demanding that he follow his instincts and find the source. Immediately upon stepping into your room a wave of dizzying pheromones and the scent of slick nearly made him stumble backwards. There, in your laundry pile, he found what was emanating the smell that was causing his pants to grow tight. A pair of slick soaked panties lay on top of your laundry hamper, as if waiting for him. He never could have imagined when he entered your home that your heat had just ended and such a treasure would be left for him to enjoy. He pulled them to his nose and inhaled the scent deeply. He blushed when he thought about the fact that his nose was touching fabric that has caressed your pussy. So sweet and a bit musky, an omega’s most delicious scent reserved only for mates. He had to stop himself from masturbating right then and there, because you certainly would have smelled him had he done so. He decided that it would be okay for him to take a pair because you had several similarly colored and messy ones in your hamper and it would be unlikely that you noticed just one missing. Your landlord quickly left the room and closed the door behind him before retreating back to his home. He put your panties under his pillow and thoroughly washed his face off. His trophy would have to be enjoyed later, when you got back you would soon discover the sabotaged electricity and come to him for help. When you got back from your trip to the store, bags of junk food that passed as groceries in your mind in your hands, you did not notice anything amiss. You were completely unaware that anyone had been there. When you went to turn on the kitchen light you realized that it did not work at all. You needed to change the light bulb, that was the obvious thought that entered your mind, but when you opened your fridge to put your food in it you realized the light inside of it was also not working. That was really odd, your power couldn’t be out, the light in the living room came right on when you stepped in your home. You checked some other appliances and it seemed that all electricity in your kitchen was just… not working. Anxiety welled up within you, you did not know the first thing about fixing this type of issue but you dreaded asking Nathan, you knew he was sweet and would probably be happy to take a look at the issue but you really hated to be an inconvenience and in general you just preferred to be independent. You swallowed your anxiety and made your way outside slowly as if each foot was made by lead. You stared at his door, breathed deeply, and rang the doorbell. Nathan answered fairly quickly, opening the door and greeting you with that jovial smile of his. “Hey, how are you? Anything I can help you with?” “Um, yeah, it seems that my electricity is out in my kitchen, I, uh, wouldn’t normally bug you with it, but I don’t want my food to go bad…,” you explained while looking down awkwardly, unable to meet his gaze. “Oh, sure, I can take a look at it no problem, honestly it sounds like maybe a blown fuse. I have some spare ones, let me go grab them just in case.” He went back to his house before returning with something in his hand. You both went into your unit and he walked into the kitchen and checked all of your appliances to verify they really weren’t working before going over to the panel in the wall and pulling out what you guessed was a fuse and replacing it before flipping a switch. Suddenly, much to your relief, all the appliances whirred to life. “Thanks so much! I am sorry I did not know it was something so simple…” “Hey it’s no pr-,” Nathan began to respond, but stopped when he turned around and noticed that you had already retreated back to your computer, typing away diligently. Nathan was beginning to get a bit frustrated, not at you but just at the situation and with myself. He just did not know what he had to do to get your eyes on him, you seemed absolutely immune to flirting and showing off… It was time for the direct approach. Maybe things really just flew over your head or you were afraid to give him any attention for some reason, maybe you had been hurt in a previous relationship, or maybe you just needed someone to show you that you were worth the affection. But whatever it was he decided he would have to use the direct approach, though he would have preferred to have been getting you to notice him a bit more before he did so there was simply no other option left. Tomorrow he would simply ask you out directly. He was a big strong alpha that took care of you, surely you would not say no. He finally left so you could breathe a sigh of relief, you really did not like having others over. You were grateful and all but under Nathan’s smile you were positively convinced that he was judging you, you always caught him staring at you and it made you more than a bit nervous. With him gone you finished up what you had started on, ate one of your dietary staples, a pack of ramen noodles, and washed up before staying up too late and eventually passing out in your bed while watching YouTube videos. Nathan knows that you do not get up early like he does, so he spends all day getting ready. He put together a thoughtfully crafted courting package. Sweet treats that omegas tended to be fond of and some particularly fragrant flowers all wrapped up in one of his slightly worn shirts so that you had a token that smelled of him. He even made sure it was your favorite color, which he guessed based on the décor in your home. He was pretty sure of himself, so he lacked any nervousness when he approached your door and rung the bell. When you heard it you grumbled, as usual you did not want to be disturbed, especially when you had actually managed to start working. You had not even really bothered to get dressed yet, you had been so busy between catching up on sleep and actually being productive with your writing that you had completely forgotten to change out of the clothes from yesterday and now that you had someone at the door you were now painfully aware that your hair was a bit of a mess as well. You straightened your hair the best you could with your fingers and checked to see who was at the door before answering. When you saw that it was Nathan you felt a sharp panic. Had you forgotten to pay rent? Had you done something wrong? Was he finally tired of dealing with you and had decided you needed to leave. Taking a deep breath you opened the door and greeted him. “Oh, uh, hi Nathan, what’s wrong?” “Nothing’s wrong, I just wanted to ask if you would let me court you? You’re such a cute omega and I really think we are compatible. Don’t you think we would make a good match?” He tried to hand you a courting package wrapped up in one of his scented shirts but you did not take it. “Oh, um, I am really sorry about this, but I am not uh… really looking for a relationship right now. I am just trying to focus on myself and my writing… sorry.” Nathan regarded you blankly for a few moments that dragged on and felt like an awkward eternity before he finally acknowledged your words and responded a bit frantically, “If you’re worried about taking care of yourself you wouldn’t need to! I could take care of all your needs!” “That’s the thing, I really just want to make it on my own and take care of myself completely before I have a mate. I am so sorry I hope you understand…” He nodded solemnly and you nervously closed the door. You hoped he didn’t hate you now, he was a nice guy but you had been completely honest with him. Of course Nathan did not hate you now, in fact it may have been better if he had. Instead he was more determined than ever to make you his. His mind just would not accept in any way, shape, form, or fashion that you were uninterested in him. Instead he was in denial, thinking and reaching for any plausible explanation as to why you would want him but say no to his courtship. The delusional alpha finally reached the most reasonable conclusion, you just did not think you were good enough to date him. It was rather obvious when he thought over all the evidence. You lived like someone who had at least partially given up on themselves. You hastily ate whatever was the lowest effort junk food available, your sleep habits were awful, you never left your home and as he was not aware of your online social life he thought you were utterly friendless. It all added up perfectly in his mind, you thought you were bad and needed to be elevated and you desperately needed someone to care for you, even if you couldn’t bring yourself to admit it. And, as your self-appointed alpha, it was up to him to make sure your needs were met. He sat down and calmly thought of a plan, the fact that you lived not only in an a home connected to his and owned by him made everything much easier for him. The next time you went on one of your little store trips he would once again put a nefarious plan into motion. Your soon to be lover collected all the necessary materials to have a romantic evening with you, his chubby little omega. He had prepared a meal of lasagna, garlic bread, and a side salad with a fancy bottle of wine. As well as some crucial extras such as rope and chloroform. As soon as you were gone he waltzed right on in and set up a lovely candle lit dinner for you and him to enjoy, you would get to see another way that he could take care of you, making you tasty and nutritious proper meals. When you opened the door to your home you were greeted by the scent of Italian herbs, cheese, the hearty aroma of meat in tomato sauce, fresh cut veggies, and garlic. You were confused, sometimes you could detect the smell of food from Nathan cooking next door, but never this intensely. You took a few steps inside when suddenly someone strong gripped you from behind and put a rag over your face. You thrashed and kicked in a panicked frenzy as a sickeningly sweet smell flooded your nostrils. Your kicks quickly grew feeble before everything went black. When you came to you were seated at your kitchen table, your head fuzzy and rope tightly bound your legs and torso. Your hands were free enough to be able to eat, but they would be useless in breaking your binds. In front of you there was a dinner with presentation that would not be out of place at a five star restaurant. A floral centerpiece, candle light, pasta, salad, and garlic bread. And across the table, staring intensely at you with a smile going from ear to ear, was Nathan. You could smell the excitement radiating off of him, this was a crazed alpha with their mate. “N-Nathan? What’s… going on?” Your fuzzy brain struggled to make sense of what was happening but was rapidly catching on as the drugging continued to fade. “Oh good darling, I am so glad you are awake from your nap! Why don’t you dig in? I worked really hard on a nice homemade dinner for you~” He said everything so casually and sweetly. As if a man talking to his wife and not a man talking to a woman he had forcefully knocked out and restrained. You stared at him silently, your mind struggling to come to grips with what was happening to you. Nathan had always been so nice to you, how could he be capable of something like this? “Go ahead and eat pumpkin, no need to be shy, I know how much you needed a good home cooked meal!” “Wh-what the hell is wrong with you?” You asked angrily as you glared at him, probably the most direct eye contact you had ever made with him. “What do you mean? You don’t like pumpkin as a pet name? We can try others and see what f-” “N-no! What? I don’t mean the name, I mean the fact that you knocked me out and tied me up!!” You were seething now, your rage even affecting your scent and making it more acrid. “Oh, don’t worry about that my darling mate~ I just had to make sure that you wouldn’t try to run out of our date! I know you said you didn’t want to be my mate mate but I know you were just being silly, you are just too shy to admit that you want a mate and you don’t think that you are good enough, but no worries! I will prove to you that you are.” You didn’t know what to say. He was completely unstable. “Please eat baby doll, you really need to,” he pleaded as if you were a petulant child refusing a meal, as if this was an everyday inconvenience and not the result of him assaulting you and tying you up. But eating was the farthest thing on your mind and you did not want to give him the satisfaction of giving in to his demands, and you were not entirely sure he didn’t drug the food with something even more potent. Instead you threw yourself in a rather comical attempt to escape. The way you were tied with your arms partially free and your legs firmly bound made you have to resort to wiggling on the floor like some kind of worm. Nathan got up from his seat, hoisted you up, and sat back down with you in his lap. “I know you are shy and maybe even a bit too prideful, but I promise you will feel better with some food in your belly.” As he said this he rubbed your chubby belly and kissed your cheek lightly before holding a fork full of lasagna up to your face. You knew you were going to start crying before you even felt the first hot tear streak down your cheek, you were powerless and scared of what he could do to you so you reluctantly opened your mouth, allowing him to slide the fork in. What at any other time would have been a flavorful dinner with tangy and savory flavors dancing on your tongue turned now only to cotton, as you struggled past your emotional trauma as you ate each bite that he gave you. As you ate he filled your ear with whispered praises, telling you how you were such a good girl, and you just had a bit more to go, and how he was so happy you were eating properly for him. You ate roughly half of everything that he had put on your plate and once you had he rubbed your back soothingly. “Such a good girl for me. I am so happy. My good little omega~” Don’t worry, you will get used to our life together eventually. You wanted to throw up. But you fought the urge, who knows what he would do if you got sick. Force feed you more? Make you take medicine and baby you? It wasn’t worth the risk. He left you on the chair as he cleaned up after dinner, you shooting him daggers with your eyes the entire time that he was doing so, but he just blissfully hummed to himself the entire time seemingly unaware of your glares. For Nathan everything was finally coming together, he had successfully taken the first crucial steps in getting his mate to accept him. When the kitchen was all clean he took you, still tied up, to the living room and put you on the couch. You didn’t have a tv since you never bothered with anything other than your PC or tablet so he turned his laptop to Netflix and placed it on the coffee table in front of the both of you and turned on your favorite show. Once again your stomach turned a bit, how did he know the things that you liked to watch? Had he really paid such a creepy amount of attention to what you were doing during one of the many times he had been over to fix something? Just how long had he been so obsessed with you, and why? Nathan finally removed your bindings after pulling you close, perhaps realizing that they were more than a bit overkill since you were right up beside him with his arm around you. There was no way you could even attempt to escape without him immediately stopping you. And you certainly weren’t going to make the attempt now, he had knocked you out, tied you up, force fed you, and was living in his own little delusion that you would easily accept him as a partner when you did not even really want a partner even in the best of circumstances. Who knew what he might do to you if you shattered those delusions by escaping. You’d have to lull him into a false sense of security and trust before you attempted to do anything. For now you allowed him to stroke your hair as he watched a show with you, though you were very rigid, scared, and not paying any attention at all to the screen, but if he noticed he did not make a fuss about it, maybe it was enough just to be obedient for the moment. And it was, Nathan knew it would take you a bit of time to adjust. There were always adjustments both parties had to make when starting a new relationship. You had to get used to being around him all the time and used to having someone praise you, build you up, and make sure you were being taken care of. He would have to adjust his time and schedule to give you all the time and attention that you needed and he would have to be really patient with you. It was just part of a new relationship. Nothing to worry about. You continued sitting on the couch for him for what seemed like an eternity. He occasionally planted a gentle kiss on your cheek or on your cheek. You flinched a bit each time that he did, but finally he turned the laptop off. While you were more than a bit relieved you had to fear what would happen next. And your fear only increased as he led you to your bedroom. Apparently he did quite a bit more than just bring dinner over and lay in wait for you. He had reorganized your next, not only tidying it up but also adding several new items that he had personally scented. His musk hung thickly all about the room. He had likely placed scented objects all around the room. You scrunched your face as the smell became increasingly gross to you. This was the ultimate invasion to any omega. A non-consensual intrusion into an omega’s nest was pretty revolting and anxiety inducing. A nest was supposed to be a place where an unmated omega had supreme authority in constructing it in a way to make them feel comfortable, safe, and comfortable. This alpha forcing his scent in not only your den but also your nest made you more nauseous than when you were being forced to eat. As he guided you to your nest you begin to truly panic, thinking you were surely about to be raped. You started to try and turn for the door, but he caught you and held you close while rubbing your back. “Shhh, don’t worry babe, we aren’t going to do anything other than sleep okay? You need to fix your sleep schedule, I am your alpha and have to make sure that you rest enough and you have had a long day. Shhh, just relax,” he whispered in a hush tone before licking your neck in the way an alpha or beta does to relax an omega. Though you were opposed to the licking, and you certainly did not want to be in your tainted nest, you did calm down a bit with his assurances that he wasn’t going to forcefully breed you. You let him lead him into your defiled bedding and lay there. He whispered praises of you being his good girl as he slid in behind you and put his arm around you, pulling you close. You felt the heat of tears as they welled up in your eyes and cried silently until you finally fell into a fitful sleep. You woke up from your light sleep to the smell of breakfast cooking and the sound of meat sizzling from the kitchen. You felt as if you had hardly slept at all and your head was pounding, likely from dehydration from all the crying you did last night. You briefly considered trying to sneak out the front door while he was busy in the kitchen, but the rooms were close and at this time in the early morning there would be absolutely no one outside. He would hear you leave and then snatch you back up immediately. And who knew what the consequences would be. Instead you forced yourself into the kitchen and did your best to act like everything was fine. “Good morning sunshine~ I hope you slept well. Breakfast is almost done, sausage and homemade pancakes. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I can’t let you go without it,” once again he was saying all of this so casually, as if you could just so easily accept him as your provider and caretaker. “Th-thanks,” you mumbled while trying to sound at least a little sincere. Nathan thought you were, his heart fluttered thinking you were finally starting to accept him. Which is exactly what you wanted. Nathan wasn’t the only one who could think of a plan. Once he completely let his guard down and left you alone for an extended period of time you would get the hell out of here and go to the police. He had taken away all of your electronics so you had no way to signal for help, so you would have to run. So for the next few weeks you let Nathan think you were warming up to him. You ate his food, let him pull you close, you engaged him in conversations, always acting as sweet as can be, and eventually started leaning on him and holding on to him in bed. It worked like a charm, he started leaving you unattended for a few minutes at a time and that time slowly grew bit by bit until one night he said he had to run out to the store to get some supplies he had forgotten to get earlier that he needed to fix a minor leak in the roof the next day. You told him okay and made a big show of being sleepy and snuggling up in your nest with the big plushy he had gotten and scent marked for you so you could always have his scent by you. When he left the home you stared out the window and waited for his car to move out of sight. When it had you sprang up, quickly put some appropriate clothing and shoes on, and ran out the door. Smacking right into Nathan’s broad chest. He must have parked the car down the street then sprinted here while you were throwing your clothes and shoes on. He was a bit out of breath. It had all been a clever trap to test you. “Nathan… I was… just getting some fresh air. I-i didn’t feel well.” You started to back away but he grabbed your wrist a bit painfully and pulled you back to him. “Don’t give me that. I know you were trying to get away from me. It’s my fault, I gave you a bit too much freedom too quickly. And I should have realized how badly I needed to mark and mate with you to keep you happier. I know you won’t admit that you want it yet, but it is clear you are crying out for it.” “Nathan no. N-no please don’t,” you pleaded desperately, each word out of your mouth dripping with terror. Your self elected alpha ignored all of your objections and struggles as he picked you up and started carrying you to the bedroom. You scratched at him, punched, kicked, elbowed, everything you could do to stop what was about to happen. “Calm down baby girl, I’ll make you feel so much better, I promise. Gonna mark you, breed you, you’ll be so much happier, just calm down.” Nathan deposited you in your shared nest, you tried to push him away with your legs and feet but he just caught them effortlessly before aggressively ripping off your pants and then panties, exposing your pussy to him. Then he moved to your top and bra and removed those as well. Your body was completely uncovered. You tried to cover yourself the best you could with your arms and hands but he just pried them away. He now had you completely pinned and at his mercy. The first thing he went for was your neck, knowing that stimulating your scent glands there would be an effective way to arouse you. He licked up and down the sensitive area before kissing and nibbling on it. Your reaction was as strong as it was involuntary, small gasps and whimpers escaping your lips as your pussy began to drool. He firmly grasped your tits, groping and kneading them in his hands as he continued his assault on your neck. You feared he would make a claiming mark soon, his teeth grazing over your skin threateningly, but so far he had restrained himself from that ultimate act of dominance. You had a moment to collect yourself as he temporarily released you to slide out of his shirt, a light sheen of sweat covering his chest, before then taking off his pants and underwear. His large cock bounced free. “No, no, no please I don-,” you started to protest before your pleas were swallowed up by his lips dominating yours in an oppressive embrace. He broke the kiss as one of his hands slowly traveled down from your side to your pussy. He slowly teased the lips as you continued to mutter, whimper, and whine out little pleas and protests. But despite your obvious lack of consent, each word you uttered was steeped in arousal. It only convinced him that he was doing the right thing, that you were just too shy to admit that you wanted it, that your shyness in conjunction with your pride made you try to run away. Mostly it convinced him more and more that he just needed to open you up, in every sense of the word. And with that thought he finally slid two fingers inside your eagerly waiting cunt. Instinctively at the sensation your body completely betrayed you, your legs spread more as if inviting him in deeper while moving yourself into his touch, grinding into his fingers. “See babe, I knew you wanted this~,” he whispered faintly before sliding another finger into your drooling depths. He didn’t let up, in fact he picked up the pace as you began really fucking yourself on his fingers, your body clearly craving release. His previously acrid smell began to actually smell a lot better to you, desirable even. The combination of domination, neck stimulation, and his skilled fingers lead to you cumming a lot more quickly than you normally would. “Gosh, such a good girl for me, already cumming for me,” he said under his breath more to himself than to you, as he regarded you with awe. You were the picture of perfection to him, simply radiant as you panted and shuddered in the wake of your climax. Nathan licked all your juices off his fingers before kissing a trail from your pudgy belly to your sex. He kissed it deeply before sliding his tongue in, thoroughly making out with your nether-lips. His tongue was eager for every drop of flavor inside your pussy, the pheromones your body was producing sending him into rut as all the sensations began to trigger you into an early heat. His tongue probed and prodded every inch it could reach within you as you kept producing more slick. It wasn’t long before another orgasm hit you, causing you to squeeze his head between your thick thighs. He didn’t mind at all, instead taking pride in the pleasure he was causing your body despite you claiming you didn’t want him to be doing this. You laid back limp panting more than earlier in the wake of your pleasure, now not even able to make a single objection. But your mate was nowhere near done with you. The alpha flipped you over and put you on your tummy, you felt a warmth on your thighs as he rubbed his cock against you before sliding it all the way inside you. He started very slowly moving back and forth in your abused pussy, savoring every shudder and movement you made under him. As he began licking and kissing your neck gently while mating you agonizingly slowly you began to break down and cry, once more feeling that sensation that had gotten all too familiar lately of tears welling up in your eyes and raining down your face. “So good for me, such a good girl, such a good omega. Taking my cock so well, making so much slick for me to slide in easily, so so good,” he told you in a comforting voice as he peppered the side of your face and your neck with a bunch of tiny kisses. You were shaking, so broken by him. The slow speed had become completely torturous. You needed to cum again. Despite your shaking and exhaustion and sheer overstimulation you began to weakly rock against each one of his thrusts, driving him deeply and forcing the pace to go a bit faster. Nathan followed your cue and started going significantly faster, his large cock rubbing against your walls so wonderfully. You felt so betrayed by your body, starting a heat at his actions, pheromones thick in the air beckoning him to continue, body moving instinctively to seek pleasure from your rapist and captor. But you couldn’t help it. His praise for you continued and now became almost like a chant. “So good for me, so good for me, so good, so good, so good, so good…,” as the words of praise and worship for you kept tumbling from his lips his knot started to grow inside you, binding the two of you together. This was when he started really railing you, his swollen knot catching against your inner folds in the best way possible, as if his cock was specifically for your use. The sensations were reaching their peak for the both of you. Your face completely wet with tears of desperation and frustration. Nathan’s mouth was back at your neck and just as he filled your insides with thick potent seed he bit down on your scent gland HARD. You screamed out loud. A brilliant mix of both pleasure and pain mixed through you as the bite sent an almost electric feeling throughout your entire body as it quivered once more with the strongest climax you had ever experienced in your life. It was so immense that you blacked out from all the sensations assaulting your body. Nathan licked your neck of the blood his claiming bite had caused and pulled you close, spooning you as his knot stayed rigid within you. You woke up whimpering as your sore pussy was being bred all over again. Nathan had never pulled out of you and when he woke up he started thrusting lightly, trying not to disturb your rest. He smiled when he saw that your eyes had opened and you were already flushed and flustered from his movements. “Ah, my sleeping beauty is awake, now we can start round two before breakfast~”

[dovesndecay]

It's June! It's Pride! It's (my) Birthday!

The Introduction Spiel:

Hi, I'm Reyah! (any pronouns! no really, go for it!) On June 21st, I'm turning 32, an exciting and mysterious age to be!! (So I've heard)

Warning: This is a post asking for financial help, and if there's one thing I would ask is that if you read the whole thing: please reblog.

I'm a multiply-disabled queer person of color, a writer, artist, and photographer. I live with three of my best-good-pal-friends, (@renthony, @kryptidkhaos, and @natalieironside) and our collective army of pets.

We all know it's damned hard to be all these things at the same time under the capitalistic hellscape we're living under, and we/I am always in need of a lot of help with the existing.

I ended the month of May with some smaller bills left still to pay, but am thankful to say that June already had fewer bills than usual due, and the amount I need to start the summer off right is actually less than I was afraid it would be! Woohoo!

What I Make

I mentioned my artistic endeavors, let me show you them!!

Writing

I write less often than I'd like, but I share poetry and shorts, when I have them, on my Patreon!

You must be over 18 to pledge, as I have, can, and will again share Adult Content occasionally. Patrons pledging at least $1/month get access to all content. But most posts becomes free to access eventually. :)

When I do longer form content, I primarily write fantasy with a focus on queer brown characters with disabilities, mental illnesses, and disordered attachments. Because therapy is expensive, and writing is free.

Photography

I do wildlife and landscape photography, primarily, but you can also check out my portrait and event work on my website! You can purchase PRINTS HERE.

And because it's my birthday, I'm offering a 32% discount code for all my prints! The code is good from June 1st to July 1st!

A Note, if you purchase a print: first off: thank you. (please feel free to send a photo of wherever you display it!!!) secondly: this will not go towards the received totals on my financial need because Pixels doesn't pay out until nearly 2 months after the purchase. Funds made from sales will go towards future needs.

CODE: PDHHTR

Artwork

I've been exploring art, both analog and digital, a lot more lately, and have shared both process photos and final drafts on Patreon! Here are just a few examples:

I admittedly don't post on patreon as much as I wish I had the energy to, but I try to make at least one thing a month, provided I have the spoons and time.

Creativity is, like, a level 5 spell slot when you're disabled and impoverished, and I appear to have exactly One (1) of those available at any given time.

The Needs:

The Bills: $1,100

Yeah, we had to get here eventually. Since this post is already pretty long, I'm putting the rest under a cut.

More than half of this, as always, is just for the car payment and insurance that keeps the regular day-job-haver getting to said job, and all our medical appointments, errands, etc.

I still owe around $13,000 total on Johnny Car, but I think we all know that's just not a real number.

The rest of the funds would go toward paying the small subscriptions, for my various medications, and the regular attempts to whittle away slowly at the $4,300 worth of other debt.

($2,200 of back taxes, and $2,100 of credit card debt, and gods, do I mean slowly. Interest piles up so much faster than I can seem to whittle.)

If you're able and willing to help with paying the bills, direct donations can be made here:

PayPal | (link)

Venmo | (dovesndecay)

Cashapp | ($dovesndecay)

If you can, and only if you can.

The It Would Be Cools:

Since every dime that comes in goes primarily towards food and bills, there's little left afterward to be put towards other life necessities like clothes, toiletries, let alone things I just think would be nice/neat/nifty to have.

I have a High Priority wishlist. It's mostly art supplies, bulk toiletries, etc.

I'm woefully low on clothes, being short, fat, and trans, so very little of what I own actually feels good to wear so much as it simply covers my body. I have a wishlist of clothes that would be nice to have.

For everything that firmly lands under the "I just want it" category, I have an Enrichment list. It's mostly stuffies, but also games, room decor, hobby supplies, books, and stim toys.

Our household keeps a big wishlist for things we need, want, groceries, accessibility products, and everything in-between.

Okay, now what?

Well, now, I'm gonna ask that if you got to this point, and if you can't/don't want to do any of the things listed above, then please reblog this post.

The more people that reblog it, the more likely I'm able to pay my bills for one more month this year.

But if you don't, it's not like anyone's gonna know. I'm not omniscient, I swear.

Anyway, I don't expect anyone to do anything if you can't or even if you just don't wanna, but if you can and you're willing to, it means the world.

I didn't think this is where I'd be at 32. But I never really expected to get here at all in the end, and it's a lot nicer than I thought it would be. Mostly because I am surrounded by amazing people who have the capacity to be so much kinder than I will ever have the words to describe.

Thank you, and to all, a happy pride!

🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤

[petermorwood]

Plot Wheels

I showed a couple of examples, one old, one modern, on this post.

The old wheel was one of several supposedly used by "Perry Mason" writer Erle Stanley Gardner, and while the photo on the other post is an exercise in squinting, this website has the transcribed information from at least four wheels.

Here they are, though some - "servant", "heroine's maid" - are showing their age, so tweak and update as required.

I wouldn't suggest relying heavily on these - but at the same time, Gardner produced 119 or 82, the number varies, Perry Mason novels and according to Wikipedia at the time of his death was the best-selling American author of the 20th century.

So he may have been onto something after all... ;->

*****

A: Wheel Of Hostile Minor Characters Whose Function Is Making Complications For The Hero

These folks put obstacles in the hero's way and make it difficult for them to reach their goal.

1. Hick detective. 2. Attorney. 3. Newspaper reporter. 4. Detective. 5. Business rival. 6. Rival in love. 7. Father of heroine. 8. Blackmailer. 9. Gossip. 10. Meddlesome friend. 11. Suspicious servant. 12. Hostile dog. 13. Spy. 14. Incidental crook. 15. Hotel detective. 16. Thickheaded police.

B: Wheel Of Complicating Circumstances

1. Hero is betrayed to villain by spies. 2. Every move the hero makes takes him from the frying pan and puts him into the fire. 3. Heroine's maid is a spy. 4. Father of heroine is hostile to the hero. 5. Detective believes the hero is guilty and tries to arrest him/her at a critical time. 6. Hero commits an incidental crime. For example, he/she is caught speeding and is arrested. 7. Witness mistakes hero for villain. 8. Hero violates the law and is sought. 9. Heroine's mind is poisoned against the hero. 10. Some character is not as represented. 11. Rival in love tries to discredit the hero. 12. Zeal of hick cop upsets plans.

C: Wheel of Blind Trails By Which The Hero Is Misled or Confused

1. Witness lies. 2. A document is forged. 3. A witness is planted. 4. A client conceals something. 5. A client misrepresents something. 6. A friend pretends to betray the hero. 7. The villains assistant pretends to betray the hero. 8. A vital witness refuses to talk. 9. False confessions. 10. Genuine mistakes. 11. A witness takes flight. 12. A witness is kidnapped. 13. A witness commits suicide. 14. A witness sells out. 15. Planted clues. 16. Impossible statements.

D. Wheel of Solutions

How the hero surmounts the obstacles thrown in his way.

1. Gets villain to betray himself through greed. 2. Gets the villain to, of his own free will, plant additional evidence. 3. Plants fake evidence to confuse the villain. 4. Fakes circumstances so the villain will think he / she has been discovered. 5. Tricks the hero's accomplice into confessing. 6. Villain is hoist by his / her own petard. 7. Villain killed while he / she is trying to frame someone. 8. Gets villain to overreach himself/herself. 9. Meets trickery with horse-sense. 10. Squashes obstacles by sheer courage. 11. Turns villains against each other. 12. Traps [tricks?] villain into betraying a hiding place. Hero either a) creates a fake fire, or b) gives him / her something else to conceal, or c) makes it necessary for the villain to flee (and so must take something out of the hiding place).

[alvivaarts]

Writing Tips For You (as if I don’t currently have insane writer’s block)

-Can’t start a scene? Write the setting instead. What is the lighting like? Is this place comfortable? Is it familiar or not? What should you point out now so it doesn’t suddenly appear when it becomes important for the characters? SET! YOUR! STAGE!

-Everyone says “show, don’t tell”. I like to think of that as “what are your character’s physical reactions? What are they feeling?” You can say “Character looked dismayed”, or you can say “Character grimaced with dismay.” See the difference?

-Struggling with dialogue? Talk to yourself while you’re writing. You might be blocking yourself if you subconsciously think some dialogue feels unnatural.

-Context, context, context! This applies to everything from the small interactions to the big plots. Every force has an equal and opposite reaction, allow interactions and events to grow as such.

-Context, context, context pt 2! But worldbuilding! If your character is performing an act, how does that fit into the physical reality they already exist in? How is it possible? Can you imply (imply, not explain) that these things are commonplace or why they wouldn’t be?

-Build the action. (Stealing this from theater class like twelve years ago.) You can’t just put a character into the scene and say ‘they made a sandwhich’. What has to happen for the sandwhich to be made? Your character has to walk into the kitchen, open the cupboard, get out a plate, get out the jam and peanut butter, get out the knives, open the fridge, get out the bread, close the fridge, open the bread bag, lay down two slices of bread on the plate, close the bag, open the first jar, pick up the first knife, scoop up the jam, slather it on the bread, put the knife down, close the first jar- and so on and so forth. Every small step is necessary for you to understand, and to engage your readers. You don’t have to go into ridiculous detail like I just did, but even understanding that for yourself helps remember the ‘state’ of your scene at any given moment.

-See above, but it’s not a scene and a sandwhich. The scene is your whole story and the sandwhich is your plot. What small steps MUST happen to reach the climax? Does changing one of those small steps change the result? How?

-Emotions are best portrayed when you have experienced them or can get insight from those who have experienced them. Let yourself get emotional in a scene. Allow yourself to be empathetic and vicariously experience what your characters are.

-Reread your own work! Your writing style and characterizations can change over time, but if you feel like you’re losing them, don’t be afraid to look at where you started to ground yourself!

-Proofread your own work 2-12 hours after you finish a section! Not while you’re writing! Don’t let yourself get carried away with writing things ‘right’, just get the ideas out.

-Have a friend or volunteer proofread for you too! This can help pick out things you repeatedly say, words you might misuse, grammar and punctuation that might need correction, and phrases that are hard to digest or don’t make sense.

-Make sure you’re making an effort to use regionally/era specific words and slang both in dialogue and in your writing. There are plenty of websites and videos online that list and discuss regional and era slang worldwide. Not to mention, we can connect with people all over the world using the web just to ask! Using incorrect phrases can really break immersion and make characters feel- well, out of character! I.E. an 80s jock saying ‘dope bruh’, American characters (generally) saying ‘lift’ instead of ‘elevator’, so on and so forth.

-Research research research! Research bloodloss limits, research how laws and jobs operate in different regions and countries, research weirdly specific myths and biblical themes, research as much as you can! You can only build a richer environment to write in!

-If you actively want to implement themes, allow them to reflect the experiences of your character. Example character is an Italian American who was orphaned at 13 after his orthodox Catholic parents died, he has been in and out of foster care his whole life, and the moment he got out his military job became strict and he allowed himself to be blackmailed to protect a child in a similar position. This has plenty of fun themes and symbolisms, like sacrifice, fate, lack of control, love, losing autonomy, etc, all of which can be framed under the impactful history of his Catholic childhood. This evokes the imagery of farm animals, servitude, animal tags/dog tags, holy spaces being used for other purposes. Play with it!

-Build three base playlists! One for your overarching story, one for songs that remind you of the main character and their story arc, and one for how you feel when you’re writing/songs that weirdly remind you of your story. You can cycle through these to help get into your mood.

-Consume other media! If all you do is focus on writing, you WILL lose steam and inspiration. Don’t be afraid to watch new shows, read new books, look at more artwork, read more poems, listen to more music. You might get a flicker of inspiration for themes, motives and ideas, and you’ll continue to fill yourself instead of dumping your focus out on your writing.

-Understand how each major character thinks and instinctively reacts to things. Some characters can stay calm, but others might instinctively react to things ‘angrily’, others might try to run away. This is an easy way to figure out character flaws and impliment easy conflicts.

And last but not least:

-Take breaks! Don’t worry about forcing yourself to keep a posting schedule (unless you’re being paid. I’m not. I’m doing this shit for free and for funsies) if all you do is spend all your time worrying about your writing, you won’t be able to relax your brain. Spend time with friends, play games, go outside!

I hope this helps!

[dduane]

Ma’am Im in the final third of writing my first draft for my novel (just passed 70k words!) do you have any advice about book marketing or self publishing? Ive been looking at something called Royal Road also in regards to those two things but no on I know has even heard of it…

First of all: congrats on your 70K!

"Do I have advice about marketing or self-publishing?" Wow, probably way too much, at this point. But for the moment let's limit ourselves to specifics. :)

I hadn't heard of Royal Road either, so I went and did some poking around. Below is an article that deals with some basic questions about them.

(Adding a cut here, because this gets long...)

Having read this article, I went and had a look at Royal Road's ToS, and their fee structures.

The fees were the first thing that gave me pause. Specifically, this; while RR has free options for readers, they don't appear to have any free options for writers. (If I'm wrong about this, I invite anyone with a pertinent link to point me at it.)

Now, the rule in writing as regards money is this: "The money flows toward the writer." This rule was codified years back by writer Jim McDonald and called Yog's Law (and over here at John Scalzi's blog there's a discussion of the Law and what it involves in these self-publishing days). It means that any kind of professional writing or writing-for-pay that involves the writer paying someone else to get their work where people can read it must routinely be carefully examined. You, after all, as the writer, are the source of the product and of the value in the product. If you're paying anybody to help get your writing seen, you need to look carefully at who controls whatever you're paying for along the road to being published.

So: if you use RR, you're paying them to show your work to people. (It seems a bit like AO3, except RR charges you for publishing with them.) Their ToS emphasizes that you own your work, but if you use them to publish, "...you grant Royal Road a non-exclusive, worldwide, sub-licensable, revocable license to use, display, promote, edit, reformat, reproduce, publish, distribute, store, and sub-license Your Content on the Services. This allows us to provide the Services, and to promote Your Content or Royal Road in general, in any formats and through any channels, including any third-party website or advertising medium."

Okay. So how, though, do you get paid for publishing on this site?

RR simply says that you're allowed to link your work to your Patreon or your PayPal account, and can accept donations that way.

Well, that's nice. But it doesn't strike me as much in the way of a payday. (Especially after what Patreon takes off its subscribers' earnings these days.)

What people are seeing this work?

Just Royal Road members, as far as I can tell.

And how many of those are there?

...I'm finding it surprisingly difficult to quickly determine that with any certainty. There are numerous sites that talk about millions of pageviews (assuming that's what "M" means these days): but views are not users.

And what is feedback worth, from that readership? ...Also hard to say.

This equation has way too many imponderables in it for my liking.

There are a number of articles scattered around that discuss numerous webpublishing options and which seem preferable. (This one seems to rank RR highest.)

...If I'm starting to sound unenthusiastic about this whole prospect, I think that perception would be correct. From where I'm sitting, RR looks to me kinda like paying for feedback... and from what might be a fairly small, and at the very least, limited, pool of contributors. I'm not at all sure how this experience would be likely to do anything much but help you feel better about yourself as a writer. Which, well, sure, that's nice. But is it value for your money?

More: how does what you get from RR actually help you transit into the wholly different experience of getting your work edited, getting a cover for your first novel(s), and learning about marketing out in the broader marketplace? That's unclear to me.

(I have to add one thing here as a general caveat. I'm in the Really Annoying Congestion stage of a head cold at the moment, and as a result my view of everything today is significantly jaundiced. But I also have to say that I doubt this particular assessment is going to change much after my nose stops running.)

So. If I was in your position, I'd be tempted to give the RR concept a miss and start inquiring into how best to use actual online publication resources that feed into a system where to get your work at all, people give you money.... because Writers Gotta Eat. (And yes, there's a whole self-publishing strategy that runs on the Nickel Bag paradigm: make sample work free online—sometimes through a retailer like the 'Zon—and then have all the samples "point at" work that people have to pay for. But that's another discussion.)

Anyway: hope this has been of some general help!

[moon-huny]

Stole the Moon - Chapter One

CW: My content is not for anyone under 18. Mostly suggestive flirting and mentions of kidnapping and imprisonment. Reader character has sustained head injury. Oh, you also get choked. Buggy is an a-hole, but that's why we all love him.

Word Count: 2K

Summary: You've been kidnapped and can't remember a thing. Good news! Ole Captain Buggy is here to make you feel more like yourself.

A/N: Alright this is my first ever fan fiction to grace the website we all know and love. I originally wanted to be a fic writer when I joined tumblr, and now, my time has finally come. This Buggy is very much based off of OPLA, since I never actually got into the anime until recently. Tying to keep him in character, but the plot is very much of my own design.

Being new to this, I would love any feedback you might have. Likes, comments and reblogs are welcome, and would make my little heart sing. Okay, that's all, enjoy.

masterlist ✧˖°

• next

“Hey, sleeping beauty, wake up.” 

You woke to his voice. Your eyes slowly opening – or attempted to open – before becoming conscious of a stabbing aching pain racking your skull. You rolled over on your side, cradling your head in your hands and shutting your eyes tight. The soft candle light in the dark of your room eased the pain, but whatever relief you found was immediately wiped out by the shrill sound of him speaking.

“Ya know, I thought they killed you.” You could hear his heavy steps pacing the room, the sound too loud, his voice too harsh. He spoke with such levity, a certain air of nonchalance in his tone. He thought this was funny.

“I mean, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy getting you aboard my ship,” he paused, grabbing a chair and dragging it across the floor. A high pitched sound emitting from wood scraping wood – a sound he made on purpose just to cause more pain. You winced.

“But I didn’t think my crew hurt you this badly.” A tone of mock concern fell from his lips. “You must have put up a real knock out fight.”

He sat across from you. Spreading his legs and leaning over to get closer. Your body was curled up on a poorly made and uncomfortable plank of wood some might dare to call a bed. The “blankets” around you were nothing more than used burlap and tattered bits of sail.

He got quiet, you heard the ocean and people stomping and shouting above you. Then, so quietly, just above a whisper, “I don’t usually keep damaged goods, but you’re much better off lying here than wreaking havoc on my ship.”

It took all your strength to peel open your eyes and pull your hands away from your head. Breathing heavily, you pushed yourself upright. The clench in your jaw both from the pain you were in and the anger you felt.

Through your blurry vision, you could just barely make out a red nose. His eyes were piercing green, like the ocean after a storm. The clown makeup, the bright blue hair, you’d seen his wanted poster before.

Buggy the Clown – wanted for 15,000,000 Berry.

“I’ll burn this whole ship down,” you said. “I’ll sink it to the bottom of the East Blue.” 

Your threat came out much weaker than you intended. You were fighting nausea and an intense dizziness you were struggling to keep under control. It seems the clown caught on. He gently pushed his palm into your forehead with a flourish causing you to fall back down onto the bed gripping either side of your head in your hands.

“Aw see,” he said, standing to lean over your body. “That’s why you’re gonna stay right here,” he said, punctuating the last two words.

He made his way to the exit and grabbed the barred door. He pulled it shut with a loud clatter. You felt the metal sound resonate in your skull causing you to push your palms into your eyes.

“Night night, doll! We’ll chat some more tomorrow.” A loud cackling laugh resounded down the hallway. It made you want to scream.

///

And so, he came back to torture you everyday. Never brought you food or water, instead opting to send random crew members each visit. He didn’t want you making any friends. The only constant was one meal at night and a prompt visit from him following. He never said much, and if he did, you could hardly recall what you spoke about.

You started feeling better. You were able to get up, start walking around your prison. You clocked that you’d been at sea only four days. One porthole you could see out of – if you climbed some precarious boxes – told you you were in the middle of nowhere. Far away from any visible land.

The sun was setting, the sky turning a gorgeous orange color and the ocean turning pink in return. His boots thumped down the stairs, you could hear him shouting up towards the deck, “Hey, shit for brains, if I didn’t make myself clear earlier, I want to be docked in that harbor YESTERDAY! GET. A. MOVE ON!” 

Wherever this circus boat was headed, it was moving fast, but clearly not fast enough. What was the hurry? What was the clown’s goal? And with so little in the cargo hold … It wasn’t like he had a huge haul. Were we being followed by another ship? You didn’t ever see anyone from your tiny window, and the conversations above were so muffled that gathering any kind of intelligence was near impossible.

“HONEY, I’M HOME!”

You ran from your porthole back onto the bed, pulling the blankets up around you. You did your best to slow your breathing and pretend you were asleep.

“Oh sweets,” he sighed, draping himself through the bars. “I know you’re awake.”

The smile you knew he had on, the sickeningly sweet way he spoke to you, it made you angry. You heard the door unlock and slowly swing open. 

You were feeling stronger. Though the ship was in the middle of nowhere, if you could just surprise him, lock him up long enough to get to a lifeboat. You could get away.

“Doll, enough games, okay? It's only fun when I want to play, and I really don’t feel like playing with my toys right now.”

He got closer, close enough you decided. You sprang from the bed making a move to pull any number of the knives from his belt. As you grabbed for his waist, you felt a gloved hand wrap itself around your throat and push you against the wall.

“Oh ho ho, you have GOT to be KIDDING.” He laughed hysterically. “I mean wow, honey, I knew you were bold but I didn’t take you for an idiot,” he spat the last insult inches from your face tightening his grip. Your hands flew up to his wrist attempting to loosen the strangling grip he had on you.

His body pressed to yours, his knee slotting itself in the space between your legs. You were fully pinned, unable to move with the full weight of the pirate against you.

That’s when you heard the long knife unsheathe itself from his belt. The sharp metal pushing into your side. Your eyes, once full of defiance, widened to reflect the fear you felt. Your eyebrows pressing together in a pleading look as your lungs burned, the need for air growing stronger.

“Mhmm, I knew I’d like that face on you,” he whispered. “You gonna be a good girl if I let you go?” You nodded slowly, then felt the knife push impossibly further to the flesh of your hip. The nod quickened, your eyes clamping shut, preparing for the worst.

Then, he let you drop. Your hands flying to your throat, bruising surely setting in, as you gasped for air.

“I told you, doll, not in the mood to play,” he said, sheathing the weapon. “I have something I need from you.”

He nodded in the direction of the small table and stools. You hesitantly pulled yourself upright, sharpened gaze never once leaving his larger figure. You were like a mouse in a cage with a snake – look away and you might be his next meal.

You sat across one another as he pulled a map from his coat. His large gloved hands smoothed the cotton-soft paper out in front of you. The candlelight flickered over the page, the night finally setting in, the air growing colder. 

The thin slip-like dress you wore did barely enough to retain your modesty. You pulled your arms across your chest, staving off the cold and attempting to cover your chest. Sitting there with him eyeing you across the table, you became more aware of your body and the night air prickling your skin. If he was attracted to your shape, he didn’t show it.

“You know what this is?” he asked.

“A map,” you replied flatly.

He laughed. “Funny, sweetheart. Yeah, your captain knows it’s – .”

“YOU are NOT my captain,” you spat back before he could even finish his sentence.

The smile spread further across his face, “If you aren’t joining my crew then you'll stay my prisoner.”

“Is that what this is about, you want me to join your band of seafaring freaks?” You were picking a fight you knew you couldn’t win. He knew it too.

“I think I made myself very clear but, if you need a little extra explaining, I don’t mind. You did hit that pretty head very hard a few weeks ago.”

“Weeks?” You did your best to keep your voice even as panic began to settle in your chest. 

“Your…” it took a moment for him to find the right words, “temperament was difficult to say the least. If I thought getting you on board was hard, oh boy! Talk about keeping you quiet! But, it wasn’t anything a little sleeping powder couldn’t fix.” 

He’s cocky, he knew springing this information on you would leave you feeling confused and uncertain. Was every move he made this calculated? 

“We all got used to how quiet you were, so much … easier to watch.” His eyes traced up and down your frame. You got your answer, that remark was calculated and so was his decision to finally regard your attire.

He was stronger, he had more weapons at his disposal. The clown capitan knew he could say whatever he wanted, and there was hardly anything you could do about it. But that didn’t stop you from opening your mouth.

“What do you want with me and why the hell am I on your ship?”

All he could do was smile and chuckle in return, “That’s so funny, beautiful, truly. You are so much more entertaining when you're conscious. But, I’m going to need you to stop playing dumb, okay? It’s really starting to piss me off.”

His eyes were getting darker, his words sharpening. You were really starting to wish you knew what he was talking about but, god help you, you had no clue. You couldn’t remember how you got here, and now that you started racking your brain for answers, you realized you couldn’t remember anything about yourself. 

Your name? Yes. You knew that. Family? Nothing. Village? A small seaside town, but the details were fuzzy. Who were you before this? You didn’t even know how long you were at sea and now you can’t even remember the basics.

The confusion in your mind began to make itself plain on your face.

“Oh no,” his tone began to change, the grin dropping from his face. “No no no no no -- you really don’t know do you?”

You looked up and saw his expression contorted between realization and anger. “SHIT! No! Gah! This was not supposed to happen this way! God fucking DAMN IT!”

He pushed himself up from the table with a fury, and something you’d never seen him carry before, frustration. Up until now, the blue haired man had acted with such a confident air, but now, it seemed like everything was falling apart. You made no move to speak, just watched as he paced the room spitting various curses into the empty space.

Then he finally turned to you, slowly on his heels. “No, you know what, this is fine.” He smiled, collecting himself. “All of this is just fine.” He began to stalk toward you.

“You’re here, on my ship, and that is alllllll that matters right now.” He placed both hands down on the table in front of you, leaning over the map and getting dangerously close to your face.

“We will just have to work through this little hiccup together. Huh? What do you say?”

“You can go to hell. I don’t know anything about this map, or what you need from me. Any information you're looking for is gone because your moronic sideshow and its excessive force scrambled any memories I had,” you spat.

“Okay gorgeous,” his emerald eyes not breaking contact with your (e/c). “Suit yourself.” 

His tactics weren’t working, he knew it. It was time to change the game. Play from a different angle. You didn’t remember who you were, what you were, he’d help you remember, and maybe add a few memories into the mix. The mind was a fragile place, its chemistry could be changed so easily. Enough of the fear and frustration, it’s always easier to attract flies with honey than with vinegar.