#and completely hopeless in terms of communication

[mysadcorner]

Hello, how are you? Can I ask for headcanons? What if damian wayne /or al ghul/ cheated on the reader with someone else and the reader found out and broke up with damian, how would damian react? Would he regret it? Would he be sad? Would he try to get the reader back? When the reader finds out about it, she breaks up with him quietly, I mean, she doesn't even have a break-up talk with Damian, because she doesn't think it's worth it for someone to take her down. So the reader just disappears and stops communicating completely. So she can't handle the deception, so she goes on with her life without caring. What's Damian's reaction? Have a nice day 🩶🤌👍

Cheater!Damian Wayne x Reader Headcanons

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- Credit to the gifs owner - Please be specific about characters wanted in requests -

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Damian isn't the type to cheat on the person he's in a relationship with so if he does it's likely that he was forced to, he was desperate for something your relationship was lacking on an extreme level, or it never actually happened and someone is lying to you. Damian wouldn't want you to find out no matter what if he does cheat, so your first hint at what he did would be how often he's starting to keep secrets or acting differently around you.

Damian might not regret it instantly but he would feel shameful about his actions since he's so used to having self control and condemning how people behave in toxic relationships. He would only start to express his regret outright once he's realised that you've caught onto what he's done.

If you caught him in the act then he would be completely stunned and wouldn't know exactly what to do. He would become defensive but would know that lying at this point is hopeless so he may just try to make you hear him out before you leave if he can.

When you instantly leave him it finally hit him how bad his actions were, and this causes him to spiral in a way. He becomes extremely aggressive towards everyone around him and many others start to distance themselves from him due to his actions. His entire life has flipped and he doesn't exactly know how to take his actions back or fix the consequences he caused.

He would try his best to reach out to you and apologise if he can, or at least have a conversation with you about what he did, but if you aren't allowing him to confront you in any way then he will try harder each time you manage to avoid him. This would go on for a long time until someone else finally steps in and forces him to leave you alone.

He would try his best to get you back, and would give anything just for you to forgive him in any way, but he knows that it would likely never happen. He always thinks about you in the future, and looks back as to how good you were for him until he decided to ruin everything for no good reason.

In the long-term, Damian would realise that his life could never go back to normal now that everyone knows what he did and how he ruined something perfect. He wants to fix things, but he only becomes more closed off and hostile as he continues to go on without you.

[cinefairy]

“affirm and persist” how should we approach it?

you don’t even have to be in the law of assumption community to know the term “affirm and persist” it’s plastered everywhere. we see it all the time, we see blogs repeat that term in different wordings but ultimately the same meaning.

i think there can be good that comes out of term- it’s simple & straightforward.

but i personally believe there’s can be more cons than pros with affirm and persist not so much the term itself but how we approach it. its a term that can’t relate to everybody. we have to be mindful that we are different bodies, different minds, different stories. we can’t all relate and understand the term of affirming and persisting.

im saying this out of personal experience and what anons that speak to me.

“i’ve been affirming & persisting and nothing is happening”

- i relate to this very very much. it’s mostly because we affirm out of LACK. when you affirm are you doing it because you’re acknowledging what you want is yours? or are you affirming because you believe there is something to achieve? are you affirming because you “have to” or are you affirming because you’re being gentle with yourself and affirming as you please. state of lack or state of fulfilment?

when you persist- are you still putting focus on the 3D? are you still conscious of time? do you measure your success by time or by how you feel within yourself?

when you persist do you feel tiresome, drained?i know when i persisted with my affirmations in the state of lack i would get headaches, i would feel like total crap. would a person who had their desires feel like this? the answer is no

you know you’re persisting amazingly when you feel calm about your desires, when you don’t even care about time. when you feel nice within. its a pleasant feeling.

“I’m in a terrible circumstance and i don’t know what to do, i feel hopeless”

i’m not gonna tell you to ignore your circumstances because let me tell you this- some circumstances are so terrible and completely draining that you can’t even ignore it. especially when you have to face your circumstance every single day.

when i was in unpleasant circumstances i took it as something that will soon go away, i didn’t question how it will go away. i didn’t worry if it will or if it wont. i decided that it will soon go away, so whenever i found myself in a circumstance i particularly didn’t like- i felt it as neutral.

another thing that helped me was meditating and journaling. i meditated for 5-10mins whenever i had free time, sometimes it was guided meditations sometimes it was listening to my favourite songs that me feel at peace. during this time i just let myself BE

i wasn’t worrying about doing the meditations right, i wasn’t worried about affirmations i was just BEING.

journalling helps me get out all my thoughts that make me feel unsafe, uncomfortable etc because sometimes my mind becomes a cluster of mixed emotions & thoughts that make my mind hurt so i would journal and i wouldn’t hold anything back, i wouldn’t perfect my journaling i would literally flood my pages with whatever i was feeling.

it did make me feel more relaxed, more like my mind was empty. i wouldn’t have any thoughts after it was like my mind has been squeaked clean.

i won’t lie to you guys and say it was the most easiest thing ever, it was not. well it definitely wasn’t at the start; it is a jump from my old mindset.

but when i consisted and made it a habit i noticed changes- subtle changes. i used to easily react and throw tantrums and then judge myself 10mins after for reacting, now i do not judge myself.

in general— we must be mindful of those who are struggling, lets not demonise them and tell them to get up and affirm & persist. allow yourself to just be sometimes, without judgment lingering in

[jovoy]

i hate that nara smith girl.. like yes there is the argument that shes not overtly or even covertly endorsing the “tradwife” mindset shes just living her life and documenting it. andto a certain extent i agree that labeling any sort of traditionally feminine domesticity as tradwife content diminishes the meaning of the term and takes away the severity of a dangerously misogynistic &more often than not racist movement that is not to be thrown around lightly imo. but also at the same time she 100% knows the type of lifestyle she is broadcasting & idealizing for young women and girls &whether or not its rooted in insidious purposes doestn really fucking matter. not to mention the fact that her husband is an extremely hardcore mormon whichmakes me feel like they probably know exactly what theyre doing even if theyre not fully aware of the scope of their influence on people. in a lot of ways i think that her huge following and her being perceived as this tradwife content creator is symptomatic of the larger movement ofgirls abandoning feminism and the general zeitgeist moving further right in young people but in my opinion at least it doesnt take away the responsibility she takes as someone who endorses the lifestyle. she just makes me so angry and to see people defending her like she has no culpability in this community shes a part of willingly or not makes me mad. idk why i just wrote like half of an essay about this girl but i think just witnessing the complete & violent death of feminism amongst the general population especially of younger girls makes me so legitimately upset and hopeless

[zephyrtheoctopie]

The 'she's ny better half!' immediately followed by 'she's like a sister to me' took me out, good lord

This did spark some questions though!! Most importantly, makes me wonder how all these little guys feel upon seeing each other at the surface - 8 and Marina's relationship post-lobotomy in particular intrigues me!

I’m happy to answer, but there might be a few typos (as I’ve just woken up lol)

They all actually didn’t get to fully re-unite again untill after Side Order.

I’ll just go over everything but to the end of OE for now.

The first out of the Octoposse to reunite on the surface was, surprisingly, Marina, Warabi, and Paul. They all were both surprised, yet happy to see eachother nonetheless. A bit on the uneventful side…

Then comes Madoko and Baia.

Their meeting was not on as friendly terms as the others was. See, this meeting had come after a year of Madoko trying to track Baia down. She had become aware of the fact that Baia had become Agent 3 after years of sightings and rumor. What was once solely anger at the inklings , became anger at Baia over willingly allowing himself to become such a puppet for the inklings.

But at long last, they had finally met at the Octo Vally/Inkopolis Plaza border.

A bitter fight ensued. Hell, Madoko was winning the fight at that, having straight up knocked Baia out. But just as she was about to make off with his unconscious body back to the valley, she was taken out too, struck by an unknown figure. Both were dragged through a grate into the unknown depths…

And this segways straight into Octo Expansion.

Madoko awakens on the cold ground with no memories of who she was, no memories at all actually. Not even her own name.

She’s left to traverse the dark metro completely alone (as I’ve written cuttlefish completely out of this part), where she comes arias the telephone. She’s given the whole rundown about the place yada yada, she’s given a CQ-80 and sent off on her merry way..

Eventually though she does end up meeting cuddlefish, and the two pair up to get the hell out of here.

This leads to when the two accidentally contact Pearl and Marina. Madoko doesn’t recognize Marina yet. But Marina sure does recognize her.

In the chatrooms, Marina asks Cap’n for the story about how Madoko had gotten down there (feeling as though he knew some of the story). Upon hearing about the fight at the border, she couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of guilt. The fact that she was trying to cross the border to find her and all the others. The fact that Madoko thought she had been abandoned (which really, she kinda had been) because of her and all the others.

Meanwhile as Madoko progressed through the tests and gained Memcakes, she slowly began regaining slithers of her memory.

As she began remembering fragments of herself and her relationships, she slowly began falling back in love with Marina, just like she had when they first met, while also becoming deeply jealous of the relationship ‘Rina and Pearl had together. Once again she was being one-upped by someone. And once again, she would feel nothing but heartbreak.

This can’t be how the story ends again.

No..

First it was Acht. It didn’t sting as much since at least ‘Rina was in love with another octoling.

But an inkling? An inkling that just a knockoff of her nonetheles? That’s cold, ‘Rina.

But two can play it that game. Gone was her blissful unawareness turned hopeless romantic demeanor. Madoko was now slowly going back to being that heartbroken, abandoned soldier again. And she wasn’t shy to show her disdain towards both Marina and Pearl any chance she could, to the point where she almost refused to escape the metro at one point.

But the ironic part?

Marina didn’t even know why she was acting this way again. Because, like last time

She didn’t even know Madoko was in love with her.

Ouch.

Unfortunately that’s what a lack of communication does. It leaves both parties confused and on bad terms.

After Octo Expansion, Madoko decides not to make her home in Inkopolis, still feeling particularly burned by everything that happened. And well, nobody knew where the fuck Mizuta was. So, the Octoposse was still splintered.

But the members that were together (Baia. Marina, Warabi and Paul) all became close friends again.

And that about wraps it up for all I have wrote about that subject!

I feel like this could be shortened a fair bit, but I kinda just wanted to brain dump a little.

Thanks for the ask ^^

[normalbrothers]

Ik we don't know each other, but I did want to say that you may get more support from your network irl than you think. I have a couple of friends who were in a similar position - they realized they were being negatively impacted by their drinking habits but weren't late stage alcoholics by any means. And their networks have largely moved to support them as much as possible (checking in on them before/during drinking, cutting down their own drinking around them, etc) even though we're all young and fun people who usually drink when socializing. Just wanted to say you aren't doomed to go through this alone

thank you! this is a very appreciated message :) neither do i think it's completely hopeless for, but i do have my moments of worry - but there are certainly other options and grounds for communicating my problems regarding all of this. i'll have to think about managing this in the long-term, but you are right to point out that your loved ones tend to be more accommodating and compassionate than we want to think in our bleaker hours.

[syrenki]

Do you think we overpathologize everything now? Things like love for example i think were always pretty intense but now most of the components of it are called toxic, codependent, unhealthy. So maybe they were always we just didnt know better? Still…The way we are ”supposed” to love now seems so…sterile? No matter where i look i see intellectualisation of feelings/categorization of them. Isn’t it normal if you feel like you’d die if your partner would be gone given you really love them or are you a sick to the head individual and need to change it in order to create a healthy bond? What is healthy now…being completely self sufficient and basing your interactions with people as transactions and cutting them off to replace them the moment you feel like your boundaries are crossed and they do something you don’t appreciate much? All that dry therapy based talk of nowadays…what’s going oooooooon

yeah, i agree. and not only romance, romance at least has some privileges on the basis of that, yk, most-intimate-till-death factor. but friendship too is suffering from this gradual change, friendship, community, hell, even family sometimes. it feels to me like people started assuming that since you're apparently meant to talk about your problems in therapy, with licensed professionals etc, that means that any and all vulnerability should be strictly limited to a medical setting, and if something's limited to a medical setting, it logically follows that there's something wrong with it. truly, i see people exchange nervous glances as soon as i don't keep things casual for even a second, and i don't mean to be one of those "i hate small talk, let's talk about aliens and pyramids" people, that's not what i mean at all, because it's not about how deep conversations are, it's about trying to appear cool and unbothered all the time, even in "deep" conversations (i don't like the term anyway) or even in LOVE. i think the problem is the constant widening of the settings in which you're required to keep your cool, to imagine a competition of normality and of being the one who cares the least and then act accordingly. it's tiring, it's hopeless, it grinds you down to the bone. i agree. sigh, girl.

[limeade-l3sbian]

i read the anti-porn masterpost that you reblogged. it disgusts me so much and i can’t stop thinking about it. i want to ask, how do you keep your head up in the midst of all this? how am i supposed to keep going out in public and interacting with the world whilst knowing that most of the men i see are the same men who are watching horrific pornography in private? how am i supposed to exist when i know the men around me don’t see me as human?

Lately I’ve been feeling that pornography and rape culture is so widely accepted that there’s no point in fighting it. Men are violent and perverted by nature and that will never change. I don’t want to exist in this world as a woman. I don’t want to live when so many people around me see me as subhuman.

I’ve been feeling so hopeless. I apologize for venting in your ask box; your blog just feels like a safe space to express these things. I don’t know how to cope and I need help.

No need to apologize. :) I tell people, unless I say otherwise, my ask box is a place to say literally any thought or vent that comes to mind.

It's hard for me to give proper advice about this. Just simply because other than one male at my job, I literally do not interact with me anymore. I cut my dad off and have never been close with other male relatives in my family, so...life has kind of been going on per usual for me. I work almost exclusively with women, I live with a female relative, all of my friends are female, etc..

I also can't give you the best advice on suicide ideation, since I suffer from it myself. It is important to me that when people ask me for advice, I am completely honest with them about what advice actually helps me and if it helped me long term or short term. I never want to give you empty promises that "it's all going to be okay!" etc.. Because sometimes, that isn't the case.

I take my strength from the women I interact with. Online and in my real day to day life. I garner my hope seeing women start to really peak and ask questions and make criticisms about men without feeling like they have to qualify their righteous anger.

I can't magically wish or pray away misogyny. I can't promise you that even in your lifetime, you will see momentous change in the way women view themselves and how they fight back against men. What i can tell you is that hope and happiness, in such a situation, come from community. Your fellow woman. You said: how am i supposed to keep going out in public and interacting with the world whilst knowing that most of the men i see are the same men who are watching horrific pornography in private?

You keep going out and living because that in and of itself is defiance. Not allowing the fear and anger of oppression to keep you huddled in a corner is what let's them know who you are. Going out and living is what let's other women who have been trapped or feel trapped in fear know that life can continue. The prevalence of porn and rape culture is a reaction to women's growing consciousness.

You shouldn't give up because people, like me, care about you. I say this all the time and I hope every anon that I've ever said this to knows that I mean it: now that I know you exist? You matter to me. You mattered to me before, just as a person. But now that i know that YOU specifically, exist and felt trusting enough to give me this burden that's been weighing down your heart, I trust you to know that your presence in this world will NEVER be dictated by the porn-influenced and misogyny-ingrained whims and demands of men.

You're a woman who is reacting to the oppression around her, as any woman would. And you have to see it through, with me, because once every voice of defiance gets snuffed out, the voices of oppressors are no longer hindered.

[birlwrites]

How goes Bloodfinch! Are you at the stage of writing parts yet? Is there a particular area of writing (dialogue, point of view etc) that's particularly fun with it?

And another hopefully answerable but somewhat generic question (to give you the power of surprise yet if you want it!): what person and tense have you gone for? or have you varied it according to a pattern of your own design?

If there's stuff to say about the process of writing concerning what brings you joy (and not further worldbuilding/plot details necessarily that I'm sure time will reveal) it'd be interesting to hear it!

Also, as a side note, you said you very much identified with the sliding meme of your opinion on your skills varying. Hence, I desire to communicate that I think you're consistently brilliant! I am curious why you feel that way though, as I was shocked it was somewhat widespread (I have days where things don't go so well writing, naturally as consistency isn't quite how it works as an area, but find my faith in my skills is rather solid and veers only between "I'm fine at it I suppose?" to "oh yes, it's an area of skills I've worked on that I'm good at" with more sporadic bursts of "I'm a genius! I'm so great at this!" never reaching more despairing "I'm hopeless, utterly hopeless").

it goes well!!! i'm having fun!!! i'm nearing 2.5k now - i had a longer draft, but had to frog that since i decided to start the story in a different place. i'll probably grab and reuse snippets of it later on though. and the outline is complete!! i'm hoping that it'll be similar to lachrimae in terms of time it'll take me to write, although unlike lachrimae i'll then do at least one round of editing once i have a full draft, plus then i'll need to do like. layouts and get cover art and stuff

finch, the pov character, is a singer, and i'm having a WILD time being able to write a very highly trained singer - her tutor (dulceis) definitely has. some traits in common with. certain singing teachers i've had. just wrote a line about dulceis standing on the opposite side of the room from finch yelling 'WHERE ARE YOUR CONSONANTS I CAN'T FIND THEM' and. yes

it's first person present tense and it'll stick to that - normally i'm a third person present tense writer by default, but i'm going for first person here because a) we are VERY deep inside finch's head and b) that was the best way for me to make clear that despite her calling herself finch, that's not what other people call her

i also just created yet another saint today, the sea-saint, who's associated with the sea (duh) and those who make their living from the ocean (sailors, fishers, etc), AND ALSO rhetoric, poetry, and all of the word-arts. the sea-saint is associated with fluidity (duh), impermanence, but also a certain type of control - navigating uncertainty. there is a story about the sea-saint calming choppy waters just by speaking to them and persuading them to settle. they're represented with a wave, a seashell, or a siren (this tends to be the less positive side of the saint, representing fickleness, hunger, and misleading appearances)

oh and i also just wrote up a little story about the origins of bloodfinches, because i was going to type up my handwritten notes but writing up notes was boring and writing up a story that conveyed the same information was far more interesting - so perhaps i'll post that! in a different post though, so it can just be its own thing instead of being buried in this response

naturally from finch's pov i also get to go wild with the auditory imagery which is fantastic, and i'm also having a great time with introducing original characters - even though i work with very, very, very, very, VERY minor characters in hp fanfiction, so minor that in many cases i am inventing characterization out of wholecloth, people still already have certain impressions about characters' appearances, personalities, and general vibes. that is not at all the case with completely original characters and figuring out how to introduce them and convey impressions of them is SO MUCH FUN i forgot how fun it was

i think that the reason my perception of my own writing tends to swing back and forth wildly is because i associate it with ease. words are flowing? plot details are blooming? everything feels great! but if i am not living up to my own expectations, if trying to write feels like banging my head against a wall, or if a scene isn't coming out the way i imagined it and i don't know what the problem is, or i DO know what the problem is and it's going to be a shitload of work to fix, or if it's not connecting with readers the way i thought it would, then i do have a tendency to spiral

logically, i am a fairly confident writer, but emotionally, i'm of course more inconsistent, and emotions tend to rule the day when it comes to how i'm feeling about my skills at any given moment. fortunately, i'm at least aware of that, and i know that feeling like it's hopeless means a) it's not actually hopeless, my brain just likes to latch onto worst-case scenarios, and b) it is well past time for a break

a central issue here is that i often expect very high levels of productivity from myself, and so then even if i know it's time for a break, i then am fighting a separate battle in which i have to convince my brain not to beat me up over needing Break Time, and it all leads to me staring at the wall wishing i could put my brain in a washing machine

[bcbryar]

Just had my account termed that I’ve had legit for over a decade and feeling extremely disheartened and hopeless over it. Some jackass reported me:) so lovely:) and my posts weren’t even bad looool they were just standard horny shit. Anyways I know this has happened to you a handful of times so how did you cope? I’m finding it really difficult since like with you, I uploaded a lot of stuff on here that’s now lost🙃

The first time I got nuked it was completely my own fault (posted self-something pics-- you can guess), second time was because someone else reported me. I gotta be honest, I cried about it for a couple of days. It hurt me deeply; all my followers, all my posts, everything I had worked so hard for was just gone in a snap. This time, I decided to just start my account again and give up. Before, I tried really hard to establish an online presence and make a little brand so I could make money, but all that was gone in a second, so I just gave up. I'm sorry if this is not the answer you wanted, I coped by stopping caring. It hurts like hell, and it will hurt for a while longer for you, and I just decided to give up on my dream so that way I wouldn't get hurt anymore. I found my mutuals again, and I'm in Discord servers with people, and that way I've been able to keep my teeny tiny community. I followed the people who cared about me, and nothing more; that's all that matters to me in these fandoms. I'm sorry if this is not the answer you wanted, but all that matters is friends, and if you've got even one, you can make it through this.

[first-mistake-forever-more]

hi

This morning I found myself on a bit of a crossroads more like becoming violently aware of a Clash between me making my own art to communicate myself and make myself understood and Nobody really quite getting it, knowing that’s sort of innate to the artistic process anyways. And I’m not completely sure how much I desire to be understood anymore.. I think this is one of the reasons of my slowing output, I can;t seem to find something very important to communicate. Every theme that used to be in my work that was material, or tied to our reality, that some people noticed, such as environmentalism or technologies, has come to feel very trite to me or shallow, so I evolve or fall down into these more bizarre images and mutations, my art becoming more of a parade for dancers and strange fusions of nature, animal, machines, vehicles, I think my art is much weirder, I don’t think this is a bad thing, but it is something I thought about this morning... I remember an interview I had done more than a year ago, which reading it now just feels like the desperate attempt of an autist to make himself understood. I think back then I really craved that sort of conversation, understanding. I wanted people to engage with my work on my own terms, I wanted to explain it all or at least give a few hints, a direction, anything, but I don’t really think it worked, I think it gave a few of my friends a framework with which to talk to me about my art, but that’s really the extent of it I think also that I’ve grown more detached with the inspirations I used to have for those themes, . and I think like a lot of us, I’ve just been drawn to darker things, a small feeling of hopelessness but also of a new freedom found in just accepting some truths about our current situations).This is just rambling, im sorry, but I think maybe my own personal growth as a person, how some things crystalize within me. Finally admitting I’m just an off person (Which is fine, i don’t mind it), has allowed me to explore myself a bit more comfortably in that sense. Going the extra mile. I think Del Toro said something along the lines of when you realize you’re one of the monsters, a lot of things start to make sense, you realize why you dont quite fit, or why you have a darkness inside you that can’t be silenced, and I found that quote to be very healing if you ask anyone that’s known me forever they’ll tell you i was always like this Honestly I feel my visual art, more specifically my drawings, just aren’t up to par with the things I ideally want to put out into the world. The worlds and animals and scenarios I imagine I really can’t realize them just with drawings. I need at least the axis of time in some way. It can’t just be one still image anymore. I’ve grown past that. So lately it’s just been a lot of thinking, regrouping, refining some worn talents and practicing, practicing... I hope soon you will see the fruits of it. Thank you (below: “all the good things in life“(2020) & “creepy“(2022))

[turtlemagnum]

so, i'm definitely some flavor of nonbinary, but in terms of gender presentation i'm pretty much inline with that of a cis man's. in terms of attraction, i can definitely fall in love with anyone regardless of gender, but physical attraction is pretty much exclusively restricted to women and feminine people of other genders, right. so, in other words, in my day to day life i'm pretty much outwardly indistinguishable from a masc cishet man. but, i'm still queer, and have a queer understanding of sexuality and gender politics, which makes a lot of straight nonsense just completely unpalatable to me. this is a problem because, again, given the combination of my presentation and attraction, most of the people i'd be physically compatible with would be cis straight women, since most queer women are predominantly into women, and it seems to me like a lot of the ones that are into men are into more feminine, androgynous men; meanwhile i'm definitely more of a bear. straight people, and as a consequence straight women, definitely seem to be in general very caught up in gender binary bullshit, and i don't think i could be with someone with the toxic views about gender that the average cishet has since part of that is things like thinking it's bad for men to be honest about their emotions and things along those lines; so i'm alienated from theoretically passing in any "straight community". but at the same time, a lot of queer spaces definitely seem to view masculinity as a threat even setting aside how the predominant perception of an "attractive" form of masculinity would be feminized from who i am. so i feel like i'm kind of caught between two worlds with neither having a place for me

i think part of it is that i'm a hopeless romantic. i'm not really interested in casual sex, which definitely seems to be the norm for most people, at least in my age range. i'm much more concerned about the emotional intimacy of it all. cuddling, going on walks, eating food, having actually damn good conversations, playing video games together, and yes, sex, but that's more of an extension of the intimacy of it all. that's what i really yearn for, being truly comfortable and happy with someone, loving and being loved. i wanna be able to be honest with someone about who i am, be able to be open about what i'm interested in, what i think and feel, what i want, and to do the same for them. i want to love, is that so much to ask?

[arshipweek]

AR Ship Week - Fanwork Recs in 2023

This is the second weekly post in the lead up to Alex Rider Ship Week.  Only 3 weeks to go!

This week we’ve got a selection of shippy fanwork recs submitted by members of the fandom, two years after our previous rec post in 2021.

**Please note that I haven’t listed all the details for the fics so take care to read the tags on AO3 before diving in!

Yassen/Alex

An Uncivil Contract by fredbasset Yassen and Alex are very well written in this period fic. The plot twist is great. I can’t get enough of it. 

There's Something About The Way You Are by countessrivers Very intense, twistedly hot and excellent writing. Alex's rather unusual turn ons feel spot on and Yassen indulges him perfectly 

The Boyfriend by Suzie_Shooter  An interesting view on Yassen being Helen Rider’s boyfriend with a sprinkle of canon.

Lionceau by Too_Many_Rooks This is one of the fics that really got me in this fandom and made me want to stay, I'm a big fan of reverse verses and role reversals and this one hit all the right spots. The inherent madness to Alex's character adds a dash of adrenaline while reading and I cannot wait to get back to this fic when it isn't so fresh in my mind to rediscover it entirely!

Paying the Price by Suzie_Shooter Love this sequel. The dynamic between Yassen and Alex is beautifully written.

Pillars of Sand by Nanimok This one-shot of an aged-up Alex in university is both a unique and bittersweet one; he’s not completely in dire straits or sucked into a hopeless future, yet at the same time, he hasn’t escaped MI6’s grasp, either. I adore Kyra in this, mostly because we haven’t seen much of her in fics as a side character to Yalex driven stories, but also because there’s hints of her push and pull with Alex the way I’m highly anticipating Series 3 will. I love the touches of humor, but most of all, the Yalex! Yassen gentleness, the way he wants Alex to find peace in a way he never could, the way he actually tells Alex as much instead of keeping it to himself, closed off and private. The Yassen we get to see has communication open with Alex and it’s obvious they care for one another… and this tenderness amidst all of Alex’s internal struggle was such a breath of fresh air, for both me, the reader, and for Alex whose safe place at the end of the days lies in Yassen. Nanimok captures their dynamic in this AU brilliantly and somehow makes Yassen’s brief appearances feel so impactful; I can’t help but draw parallels between what we’re experiencing from Alex’s limited POV with Alex himself because that’s what the writing in this fic invokes for me.

Run With Me by Polarnacht Alex being afraid for Yassen is just perfect. Angry car sex is a bonus!

The Call of Blood by TheOtherBlue Very hot Vamp!Yassen AU with sensual blood drinking, a little danger and sexy times.

Don't Need A Gun by BoldAsBrass A very sensual seduction of Alex.

Stalking His Dreams by Rirren A great exploration of Alex dreaming/hallucinating about Yassen after season 1 and very hot. I love the blurring of reality and fantasy/dreams and the way it makes you wonder what really happened.

Estrov Tattoo Parlour by Too_Many_Rooks I love tattoo parlor AUs and damn does this one deliver. From Yassen's complex back story to Alex's tortured life in the present day, I couldn't get enough! Especially with the detail in Yassen's tattoo at the end, a must-read!

Duty Of Care by Suzie_Shooter Goodness, Suzie’s writing is always a bullseye straight into my heart. This Yalex fic plays a lot with Yassen and Alex’s dynamic, especially in its exploration of one of my favorite tropes/conflicts for this fandom: Alex’s incredibly complex feelings about Yassen the assassin and having to come to terms with what that truly means. The way Alex ultimately chooses to lie to MI6, the large part he plays in awkwardly accompanying Yassen’s recovery from injury, the sugary sweetness of Alex’s concern conveyed through the get-well-gift-basket even though he’s no clue the first thing Yassen does or doesn’t like. On our assassin’s end, I absolutely adore the rare and arguably one in a blue moon injured/whumped!Yassen, bloodied and battered. He’s so not okay and I’m quite fond of seeing Alex as the caretaker and more competent one of the dynamic, albeit temporarily. We love to seen tens of hundreds of iterations of the two of them meeting for the first time since Yassen’s [fanfic] survival of Eagle Strike and how that conversation might go—in this fic, it was succinct, honest, and apologetic, and an extra kudos from me about Alex sounding quite amenable to the potential of working together with Yassen! There’s Suzie’s usual beats of humor weaved in between the banter that always makes the dialogue between the two amusing and highly enjoyable, and a plot that somehow makes your stomach twist and turn like a rollercoaster or as I like to think: it’s always fun to try to guess where things are going and even more fun to see Suzie’s execution of the amalgamation of action, common loved themes such as Alex feeling unmoored since Ian’s death, the most evocative emotion, and a unique flavor of Yalex that you can check out in all her other works!!

Safe Houses by fredbassett An incredibly funny series of Alex corrupting Yassen's safe houses and his heart. Their chemistry throughout each single fic is off the charts.

Perform Under Pressure by Polarnacht A great one-shot of Alex being so fixated with Yassen, his stare is enough to get him through a very usual performance. 

Striking the Chords and Blowing the Flute by countessrivers This fic is very, very hot, with some great dubious consent and power imbalance. 

Wintermute by wewillalwaysenduphere I absolutely love cyberpunk romances and the film noir aspect to this fic makes it even better. The author's sense of detail with the setting and attributes of each character, coupled with the mysterious past of both Yassen and Alex is excellent, chef's kiss!

Quietly into the Night by loony_lucifer (LoonyLucifer) This is an older fic, but very, very good. A fourteen-year-old Alex is forced to join Yassen and the criminal he's helping to escape on a road trip. There's some great tension as Alex at times doesn't seem to realise the nature of the danger he's in and fascinating Yassen/Alex scenes.

Lonesome Pines by Suzie_Shooter I like the Christmas rom-com / thriller vibe to the story, it was both very dreary plot-wise and gleeful trope-wise with the bodies coming up and Yalex bickering about it, something I look forward to reading again next Christmas!

The Fictitious Fiancée Affair by Suzie_Shooter An amazing take of fake dating with a bit of Angst, great plot and many feelings - and the ending Yassen and Alex deserve.

A pathway into his very soul by Myulalie Amazing Siberia and royal sex, that’s all you need to know.  

The Full Boyfriend Experience by BoldAsBrass Yassen captures Alex and wants him to be his boyfriend. This fic is incredibly hot and also hilarious, with some lovely descriptions and very witty dialogue.

Blowing in the wind by kelkblr Great mission fic, very immersive with a possessive Yassen and a happy ending.

To The Sea by Suzie_Shooter A wonderful roadtrip of healing and finding each other among the jumbled up pieces of their lives.

pebbles in a stream by ireliss A beautiful tragedy of misunderstandings and missed connections.

The Art of Drowning by kelkblr This is very dark but I love the older and tired versions of Yassen and Alex in here, both traumatised by their lives and finding some kind of understanding in each other.

Smut it up before September ends by Myulalie Excellent collection of short smutty one shots.

The Well of Silence by Polarnacht A great exploration of sensory deprivation trope, very sensual and warm, with just a bit of despair and humor.

Target Practice by RavenJames A beautiful, bittersweet fic with a very grey Yassen and a sexually charged atmosphere between Yassen and Alex. 

Fake It Till You Make It by Polarnacht The title pretty much sums it all up - Alex and Yassen are made to act as boyfriends until they realize the pretense isn’t in the picture anymore.

The Final Mission by OctarineTheColorofMagic Great fic about betrayal and finding a safe heaven in an unlikely place or rather with an unlikely person.

True Love's Kiss by Polarnacht An amazing one-shot of Yassen finding a way to make Alex hold on and survive by true love’s kiss.

Dancing by Polarnacht A perfect series to get sucked into Alex and Yassen story.

Other

A Matter of Time by Polarnacht This fic has such a fascinating premise, with Yassen returning to the past and being offered his past self for the night... Includes both hot sex and some great Yassen character study. Yassen/Yasha

The Darkest Places in Hell by fredbasset Dark but not between the pairings with a lot of comfort. I enjoyed the relationships between all of them, Tom/Alex, Yassen & Alex & Tom and the hints of Yassen/OC were amazing, the OC is very fleshed out and intriguing. Tom/Alex

Only Once in Paris by Zombieheroine Really wonderful thoughtful fic that explores Yassen's relationship with sex really interestingly. John/Yassen

under observation by galaxylentil The fic does a lot with a small number of words, and really fleshes out the clone's characterisation. I love the little cameo by Julius at the end. Sasha/Alex

[casual-music-enjoyer]

Genocide in Palestine

Intro:

If you have been on the internet for the past few months, you have probably seen the genocide Israel is committing against Palestine. These endless sights of tragedy and violence have been both confusing and disturbing to witness. In addition to this, many other genocides and crises are occuring worldwide at the same time as this genocide. This accumulation of violence worldwide is absolutely heartbreaking to watch and can make you feel hopeless, like nothing can be done about these injustices. 

In reaction to this, I want to recommend some artists whose music celebrates the culture of these disenfranchised communities, and/or exemplifies the struggle that they had to go through in the past and the present to be who they are today. 

It is impossible to track decades of conflict in just an infographic or short blog post. What I aim to do is provide basic information on this genocide, recommend you music artists, and then provide additional resources for you to shift through and learn slowly. 

I am just one person, and according to my username I am just a casual music enjoyer. However, I urge you to read what I have to say, and to appreciate this music with me.

Genocide in Palestine:

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas, a Palestinian militant resistance group attacked over 20 civilian locations, military bases nearby, and an open air music festival near the Gaza Strip, killing 1,200 people and taking over 100 hostages. Israeli survivors described having to hide in their houses without food, water, or electricity for hours while Hamas carried out this attack. In reaction to this tragedy, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, decided to bomb the Gaza Strip shortly after the attack. 

However, it was reported in November that the bombing killed over 10,500, almost half of them being children. This bombing has continued non-stop into the present day, with there only being a four day ceasefire between Israel and Palestine from November 24th to November 28th, 2023. About 2 million people are internally displaced in Gaza, almost the entire population of an area that is 141 sq mi. Last month, Rafah, the zone in Southern Gaza declared as safe by Israel, and Gaza’s largest city, was attacked by Israel. The Israeli strike killed over 95 civilians, 42 of them being children, and Israel is currently preparing for a ground invasion of Rafah.

Israel’s fight for Palestinian land has been present since its inception (I’d recommend looking up the Nakba and the historical timeline of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine). The creation of Israel was on the basis of Zionism, the belief that Jewish people have the right to Palestine because it roughly corresponds with the Land of Israel in the Torah (a lot of definitions include that Jewish people have the right to self-determination over the land, aka establish and maintain Israel).

However, there is evidence that Arab and Jewish people both originated in that area of land. This evidence supports that both religious populations descended from the Canaanites, an ethnic umbrella term for the indigenous populations in the southern Levant during the Bronze Age. Archaeological evidence suggests that both modern day Palestinian people and Jewish people largely originated from this population. This mixed descent of the Canaanites shows that Israel does not have the right to kill and push out Palestinian people out of their land for a single Jewish ethnostate. Self determination is important, but not at the genocide of an entire population of people.

With this background of the Palestinian genocide, I want to highlight an artist that has persisted before and throughout this genocide: the El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe.

The El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe is a traditional Palestinian dance company founded in 1979 that is completely volunteer based, and has performed over 1,000 performances locally and internationally.

Now you may be wondering, what does this have to do with music? I thought we were talking about music artists. You are correct, the El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe has released traditional folk music across various streaming platforms to play during their dances (included in review of artist).

These songs highlight the long struggle for Palestinian liberation since Israel's inception, and to celebrate Palestinian culture through traditional dances like "dabke", and more elaborate dances birthed through the dance troupe's own creativity.

On their Instagram, they post about their productions, the current genocide in Gaza, and how they show support for Palestinians. They reject all funding from Western powers that do not condemn Israel for genocide (according to this post), and fully support the cause for a ceasefire in Gaza.

In Review:

Recommended Artist:

El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe

Song(s) of Choice:

Don't Leave - El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe

Folktronic Mafraq Haifa (Ehab Haniyah mix) - El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe

Streaming Platforms:

Youtube (with dances), Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, SoundCloud (only one song posted by someone not affiliated with the company) Internet Archive (only one song again :( ), listube

Social Media Platforms:

Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook

[crowned-ladybug]

Additional context stuff for hopeless, for the lil parenthesis dialogues, mainly who's saying what and a lil bit of why

(If you're seeing this when I'm posting it, I'll only be posting a usual link post later but the fic is There i promise)

Arada: You know that that’s not really what an anagram is though, right? Murderbot: You’re overestimating my willingness to care. Overse: Ooh, you walked right into that one-

This is 100% just good natured, friendly bullying. Murderbot is enjoying itself immensely and so are its friends

Amena: Does that mean you can see in the dark? Murderbot: Define dark. Amena: Like, if I shut you in the closet- Murderbot: I’m not going in the fucking closet. Someone laughs, bright, high pitched. I cannot place it. I should be able to place it.

Also just fun teasing, the laughter is also Amena ofc. Also followed up by some joke about "I don't know how second mum would feel if she knew how much you swear around me"

Ratthi: How are you just fine with this? Murderbot: How are you not? It’s not meant to be rude, maybe. (It genuinely isn't, Murderbot is just like this, it's just asking) A pause. Ratthi: Well, the thing with humans- our inner ears- hold on, let me sit down…

Set sometime during the survey that Network Effect opens on. Getting around on a boat for whatever reason and the water is a bit choppy. Ratthi isn't sea sick but it's more than his balance can handle whereas Murderbot's systems for balancing work completely differently and are much more finely tuned so it's doing fine

Ratthi gets to be distracted by giving a mini lecture on the topic that Murderbot pays a bit more attention to than if another human was giving it

Murderbot: That’s not what it is. Gurathin: Mm-hm. Murderbot: I’m not taking pictures. I’m saving individual frames of my camera inputs. It’s different. Gurathin: And the end result is different how exactly?

Some sort of survey or excursion or whatever, peace times and a pretty view, and Murderbot is taking pictures of said view for keeping and also bc it thinks Mensah would like them maybe. The interaction with Gurathin is genuinely not mean spirited at this point, they just usually communicate by being contrary assholes anyway

Mensah: I thought you liked unrealistic stories. Murderbot: I’m- yeah, but this is just dumb! Mensah: What would make it better then? I can’t tell if that’s bait. I don’t think it is. It’s not her style. ...her? The episode rests paused between us for over two hours. We make up a better story.

Not much about this, Mensah and Murderbot are just watching something together that neither of them have huge emotional stakes in so they get distracted just talking to each other bc it's more fun

Murderbot: And you’re calling me immature. ART: My desire to know how this arc ends is not immature. In fact, my emotional investment is the exact opposite- Murderbot: Do you even hear yourself right now? I start the next episode anyway. The weight over me abruptly stops complaining.

Just your regular "Murderbot and ART arguing over media" stuff, only thing of note is that this is ofc happening over the feed, I just had to keep with quotation marks for the sake of consistency

The actual purpose of these was 100% just vibes but the dead author who is very alive says that while the nightmare itself came entirely from organic brain bits, these flashes came from inorganic long term memory trying to contribute/course correct and completely failing to establish a proper, coherent connection due to the Oh God Everything Is Fucked And Nothing Computes nature of a nightmare

[wikkerwisp]

Heyyyy so...whos your favorite character from atlantis

Honestly; All the *OG* crew who helped Milo in the end are bits of my favorites— I loved Vinny's depressive but witty humor and love of fire. I love Mole's quirky dirt keeping and clearly particular essence. Audrey was a gd sweetie but also strong, right minded, and clever. Packard was the embodiment of (who she was), a goddamn chain smoking gossiping communicator who acted as a (clearly) witty bourbon grandma to the others. Sweets is just fucking iconic as hell and the only one other than Milo and Kida with gumption to protect life (and is thoroughly the dad of the group actually)— but also— goddamn as a 'anti-hero' or even adversary, *Helga* was goddamn epic, sly, smart as hell and could've done better than Rourke.. However.

Kida, there's always her too, always I was inspired by her empathy, courage, curiosity, and even innocence to rely on the first outsider to plead for her people at large—even with the risks attached.

However, furthermore.

Bold faced truth—

My biggest favorite is obviously, because as a very malnutritioned bean pole nerd ass historian and being fascinated by linguistics and ancient cultures of *all* types— Milo fucking Thatch.

His obvious and outright interest and love (let alone mastery) of the many ancient languages, history, social norms, and his ***willingness to learn***—

I aspired to be an 'ally' /guy like him, even being born as an AFAB because as much as this movie (inherently as it is a white savior trope)— *Milo isn't going to talk over Kida, nor the king*- he sadly, let's Mr. Jughead Mercenary Commander do all the talking (I always hated Rourke, I could tell even as a kid at the beginning of the movie how much of a shady shithead capitalist he was).

Milo. For lack of better terms, is what I aspired to be as a kid— from the moment I saw him?

Kind, curious, factual, strong willed (albeit an awkward ass lonely guy with no friends initially and only his cat)— and above all— Willing to try, learn, and understand— let alone with the utmost empathy to Kida, and his fellow crew members.

The third to last finale scene— (the truck scene where they are hauling Kida away for profit and Rourke punches Milo)—

Was such a powerful scene- of bystanders who were powerless seeing this white bean pole of a man be socked in the nose by this giant Jughead bitch- only for his crewmates to realize.... Milo was not only right, but catering to their truths. As people. And the *adversity* all of the other crew had likely faced before.. and reflected the shitty things they did.

Milo standing up for not just Kida, but the late-Atlantian king— as well as the people themselves— as a complete outsider— against (arguably) "his own people"— to show their ignorance and sheer greed ... let alone what they were truly committing to— genocide of an entire race/ancient culture/entire lineage of families who were already dying out.

My biggest note to take from Atlantis, was not just Milo's defense and argue for an entire race, but seeing the same kindof hopelessness to feel he could change anything that Vinny, Mole, Packard, Cookie, Sweets, or even — FUCKIN FIRST OF THEM TO ACT WAS THE CLEARLY LATIN CODED GIRL, OUR HOMELASS AUDREY.

Audrey's scene, Milo's pleas, and the whole gd scene of her glaring at everyone and *each of them* knowing full fucking well where Milo is right, and not only that— but them realizing three main things then and there:

1. Rourke would likely also betray them the same, and realizing how Milo truly considered them friends.

2. Not only what they were doing is wrong, but *Vinny* of all people making the case that (paraphrased) "(other times) Someone got hurt, but not someone we knew." Detailing that he considered not just Milo a friend, but that they had only *lived* because of Milo's guidance and help. And that Rourke was abandoning him.

3. Notice, other than fuckin Packard and Milo, (including Sweets, but he was busy back at the palace)— all the main crew was either non-white or POC, or Mole (who is French).

Meaning, they *knew* intrinsically what it was like to be almost eradicated, loss of their livelyhood/cultures, hell— taken advantage of by not just imperialism, at large— but now Rourke.

And Milo stood not just with the Atlantian people, Kida, and her father— but because he was (albeit white)— used and maltreatment and not taken seriously as a person too— he understood not just the facts, but the deep deep guttural empathy of even his crew mates.

Pleading their hearts, to make the right choice— because he knew they had too, taken him in, albeit fucking with him.. and that they had meant something to him— whether they cared or not.

And the moment Audrey, Mole, Vinny, Packard and Cookie (sans Sweets)— all realized (with Rourke punching Milo and fucking him up/over personally breaking the photo + damning him to rot along with the Atlantian people—

As soon as they realized #1-#3— Specifically Audrey (we see the buildup of her looking at Milo in the mirror and trying to keep her mouth shut—

The others followed, seeing not just the fact that Rourke was fucking up an entire civilization— but now too— one of their own.

And despite their prior attitudes, proved that they were guilt ridden to some degree- and only stayed because they considered eachother ' a broken family'— much like what Milo also went through, losing his (both?) parents and then Thaddeus (his grandfather).

...

I rambled.

But yeah, Milo inspired me a lot, and his sheer willingness to try new food, new religion, mystical nonsense and even using ancient knowledge to save a civilization knowing damn well he might fail?

And not just doing it for only Kida and *her* people, but stood up (again, even after being hurt, and fighting) because it was ***right***.

[amikye]

I’ve been watching Elementary for years (finishing tv shows takes me a long time. Leave me alone.) and I got to the last season, where Sherlock is diagnosed with both a TBI and post-concussion syndrome. And it’s giving me some feelings.

I love Sherlock Holmes. He is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. And that includes the adaptations. I have my criticisms, but I’ll take all the Holmes content I can get. In terms of the most recent/ modern adaptations, for me Elementary’s Sherlock is the closest to the books. I’ve seen some wonderful analysis about how the show is about Sherlock becoming a part of a community, which, along with the focus on his addiction, is one of the best parts of the show. But I digress.

As someone who has had multiple concussions and is still dealing with post-concussion syndrome, seeing a character who I idolized growing up dealing with the same condition is incredible. Is it entirely accurate? No - they definitely hyped up certain symptoms for the drama (hallucinations aren’t really something that happens) - but it is fairly close to my own experiences.

It’s both heart breaking and warming to see the frustration and fear that comes with this type of injury portrayed in a sympathetic way. And Watson’s response? Incredible. I wish I had someone in my life respond in the same way. (I did have sympathetic responses, but no one went out of their way to do research to help me). She is a great support for Sherlock and lets him make the decisions, while acting as a buffer when he needs it. Which is such a great thing for a tv show.

There was a moment in the last episode I watched where Sherlock can’t remember why he’d come into a room and is increasingly frustrated. Joan says that everyone does that and he responds, “not me”. And I felt that in my soul. The amount of things that have changed for me in this way, especially memory-wise, that other people say happen to everyone, when I know it’s because of the concussions is tremendous and terrifying.

Seeing Sherlock express his fears and then Joan take them seriously was healing. The number of people in my life who say “oh but it’ll get better” or “just give it time” when I tell them how I’m worried I’ll never be fully healed is overwhelming. I want someone to be like Joan and say, “you might be right. But that doesn’t mean it’s hopeless”. Because I’ve already accepted that each concussion fundamentally changed my life. But that doesn’t mean I have to give up on my goals and hopes for the future. It just means I have to adapt them in ways that are more accessible to me.

I do hope that the show doesn’t end with Sherlock completely breaking down, as that would be a cop-out ending and would let down all of the fantastic work the show put into it’s complexities. I could see him moving upstate/ retiring to look after his bees, which would not only follow the books, but also give him an outlet for his mind without slipping back into his addiction. That’s the part that is most fascinating: Sherlock is scared because he needs to take a break/ step back from cases, but if he doesn’t keep his mind occupied, he’ll most likely relapse, which scares him because then how will his brain heal? And this complexity is why I love the show. He’s humanized in a way that most people can empathize with/ have compassion for while remaining brilliant. Yes, he definitely comes up with solutions no one else would, but he has the same internal conflicts as everyone else. Which makes the addition of a TBI all the more interesting. For how does Sherlock, someone who is used to having full control and function of his brain, deal with the only thing that could truly put an end to his sleuthing? I think the answer lies in the main theme of the show: by relying on the support of the community around him.