#and i'm all for extra security and i don't THINK it will make a huge difference to the overall design

[lady-harrowhark]

so my birthday is in two months, and since i’m turning 30 i decided i could be a little extravagant with regard to birthday gifts to myself this year. and i just got the notification that my Extravagant Gift has shipped, way earlier than i anticipated.

i bought myself an “engagement ring”. i’m not engaged. i don’t think that’s in the cards for me. but i saw this ring ages ago and immediately thought it was the most beautiful ring i’d ever seen. and i kept going back to look at it, and then they had a sale for black friday...

i had been thinking for a while i wanted to buy myself a ring for my birthday, and i had been looking at just tons of different ones, but i just kept coming back to this one. and i kept having these nearly-subconscious objections to buying it, like, “you don’t want to get That Ring right now, don’t you want to save that to be your engagement ring?” and “wouldn’t it be a shame if someday you did get engaged and you didn’t like that ring as much as this one? so you should pick your next favorite.”

and one day i was looking at rings online yet again, still internally debating. and i realized that what those thoughts were really getting at was, “you have to settle for second best because you’re single.”

which is not a perspective that i want to give any sort of power to. i felt kind of silly when i put it into actual words and i feel kind of silly admitting it, but whatever, it’s not like i internalized that of my own free will. i’m not gonna deny myself nice things on the basis that i’m waiting for some hypothetical person to maybe someday give it to me. like. that’s bonkers. i have the money for it, and if i’m spending that kind of money it’s going to be on what i want, not my second choice because i reserved my first pick for a figment of my imagination.

it was projected to take about a month to make plus shipping time, so i hadn’t expected it to be ready, let alone shipped, until january, but right now the tracking number says it’ll be here on saturday, barring any delays. i’m very excited but also not looking forward to people assuming it’s an engagement ring. i’m planning to wear it on my right hand but that’s easy enough to mix up and in fairness, it looks like and is marketed as an engagement ring. so i’m anticipating a few (well intentioned, i’m sure) questions about it but like ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[certified-bi]

Okay all my thoughts because some people have been saying that not supporting this change is not supporting artist and creators and as an artist fuck that.

1. Audiences owe you nothing. You have to convince them to engage with your creation not the other way around. This is something both the nonprofit theatre I work with recognizes and huge companies realize. It's just part of life. There are so many talented people in the world making amazing art, videos, music, writings, and on and on, and there's only so much time in the day. I'm not saying you shouldn't know your worth, just that being flippant about how little you care about those who can't pay isn't a good move. On that note...

2. PR is everything. If you haven't made a visible effort to push patreon, channel memberships or other avenues of making money, don't be suprised that your creation that was previously accessible to those without extra cash and to those who can't support foreign subscriptions due either to conversions or because it simply doesn't work, being made private isn't popular. There's a big leap from "We want to have more artistic control" to "We can't afford to make our content accessible to most of our audience," and people are smart enough to see this. You either have to make budget cuts or give into sponsors. This isn't unique to Watcher, it's part of literally every production from broadway, to Hollywood, to YouTube. Unless you can fund it yourself or get viewers to pay(which given how many are already strapped for cash...) that's life.

Not to mention they simply do not have enough followers to make the switch to a paid only site(dropping the first epsiode only on YouTube isn't going to draw people in, they're just going to say "oh why start if I'm not going to see the rest" and not watch) especially not one that is buggy and a security risk. Even if the switch had been supported its not going to end well. The only reason services like nebula and dropout work is because of the large amount of series and creators and the fact those creators still are partly on YouTube so new people are drawn in.

3. As for the price, 6 dollars a month is a not a good starting price for only their content and that's as someone who pays for nebula. I'd be paying the same amount for a fraction of the access to others work. Actually it'd be twice as much. And before someone says "it's only a coffee-" that's for you. Not everyone has your lifestyle. And with every other patreon and subscription service that says the same thing, it all adds up and I simply don't think 60 dollars for 48 videos a year on a subscription basis where you don't get to keep the videos if your situation changes, some of which don't appeal to every viewer is a good move. If you were able to buy physical copies of your favorite series they've made that'd be different, but that's not what this is.

4. I do believe that the employees deserve a livable wage. I also did not hire them. It is not on the viewers that they hired more people than they could afford to. They can charge that much if they want to to try and balance this out. They also shouldn't be suprised if not many can or will sign up. They also don't have to be based in L.A. L.A has ridiculous costs associated with it, and quite honestly it doesn't really add much to the content. I'm not saying they need to move to the middle of nowhere Kansas. Simply that living and basing your studio in a super expensive city and then being suprised money is tight is just weird.

5. Something that occurs to me is that they might get more views if their playlists were better set up. Only some series are given playlists. It'd be easier to find all of the series and binge them if they didn't just show off their more popular shows. Honestly the only draw the streaming site has to me is that the series are actually labeled well.

Do I think the weird ass energy towards Steven is necessary? No. He's not the only one at the company and they're all adults. I actually liked grocery run and homemade, and like to see them back. The parascoial attachment to Ryan and Shane is annoying in people's criticisms, but that doesn't make them completely wrong. If you're going to brand yourself as the anti capalist underdogs you can't get away with being dismissive of your poorer fans. The dissonance is what is causing this backlash and makes you look like hypocrites. I definitely think Steven is turning into the fall guy which is fucked up, his statement and the fact dish granted is one of those shows that make people uncomfortable about wealth flexs doesn't help matters.

[bamfkeeper]

SFW Alphabet: Nightcrawler

a/n: yayy I finally got around to writing again, as I said here's a Nightcrawler alphabet. It feels good to write for the first time in a few months. I plan on writing actual fics though, once I have more out I'll take requests. For now, enjoy a SFW Alphabet! A NSFW will come later hehe. I'm getting the feel of writing him so I'll work out any kinks of things I don't like as I write more of him. I'm going to try to mix the variants of him and not stick with a solid version, so there will be mixes from comics and other shows, etc in his characterization. I hope you enjoy <3

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?):

Kurt is very affectionate, he's a lover, so he likes to be close to you at all times. He likes giving you hugs, kisses, or simply giving you gifts like flowers or chocolates.

He likes spending time with you too, and he will call you sweet things in German because he likes to see you blush.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?):

He'd be a great best friend, always making sure you're doing good and supporting you through bad times. He'd be a blast to hang out with, he'd teleport you around Genosha and show you all the lovely sights.

He'd always make sure you felt cared for, even as just a friend, he'd still ensure you were safe and sound. He likes to have fun, so anytime you wanted to do something, he'd be down.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?):

Kurt is a huge cuddler. He is so soft because of his velvet skin, so he is extra warm. He makes the best cuddle buddy for winter because he keeps you warm, like a heated stuffed animal.

He loves to hold you, he often will rub your back or play with your hair, he will also read to you in German, which almost always lulls you to sleep. He loves to have his tail wrapped around you as well, keeping you secure.

Sometimes he likes to be held though, his upbringing at the circus didn't offer him much affection that way, so he cherishes it when he can be more vulnerable with you. Sometimes he puts that goofy self away and he crawls into your chest and curls up.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?):

Settling down is always something Kurt has wanted to do, but with his lifestyle, it can be hard to determine when.

He's always wanted a family, and he values that at his core, he would talk about settling down a lot with his partner and together, you'd figure out a good time. I think he'd want to settle when Krakoa comes around, after the attack on Genosha, your plans to settle had to be pushed back.

Kurt is German so of course he can cook. He is an excellent cook at a lot of things, but some foods he doesn't normally eat are a bit rough for him. He learns from trial and error.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?):

If he had to, he'd do it in a way where your feelings would be taken into consideration. He'd be as gentle as possible, and he'd let you know that he still cares about you.

I don't think he'd want you out of his life, (unless you cheated or did something really bad), so even if you broke up, you'd still remain good friends.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?):

Being a religious man, commitment is important to him. If he were with you, it would only be you he'd loyal to and he would date in hopes to marry.

He would go off of you, but dating is a trial run for marriage, and he dates for that. He would imagine your lives together, and he would like to marry after a year or so.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?):

He is very gentle, he is sweet and tender and learned to be that way because of all the hatred he experienced in his life. Everyone was afraid of him growing up, so he learned to be extra sweet and gentle to make up for his 'scary' appearance. He doesn't want anyone to be afraid of him.

Physically, he is as tender as ever, his touch is so light and sweet. He loves to caress your back or cheek while you sleep beside him, even his tail will run gently up and down your body.

He is very in tune with his emotions and empathetic to those around him. He is understanding, and is always ready to help you if you feel overwhelmed or upset at all. He is very good at dealing with emotions, and will always do his best to make sure his partner is okay.

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?):

Kurt loves hugs! He hugs friends, family, lovers. He does it all the time, and he is one of the best huggers out there. He can squeeze happily, hold tenderly, and spin playfully.

When he embraces you, you can feel the love radiating off of him. It is one of your favorite things to feel him hugging you, and of course his tail wraps around you!

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?):

He would be a little nervous, but he would say it first. He'd either randomly blurt it out to you, or he'd make sure you were having a special time together and he'd speak it tenderly to you.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?):

Kurt can get pretty jealous, it stems from his insecurity. When he gets jealous, he will remain close to you with a hand on your hip or around you. He might kiss you on the cheek to tell whomever you're speaking to that you're taken. His tail will wrap around your arm or leg too.

He will grumble against you later on, he might feel a little more insecure after, but some reassurance and he will be okay again. If he got really jealous, he'd teleport you away and he'd take you somewhere so he could make sure you and everyone else knew you were taken.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?):

Oh his kisses...such sweet, amazing kisses. He has experience, so his kisses would be perfect. He'd learn what you like, and he'd make sure you were breathless every time.

His lips would gently graze over yours, he smiles that cheeky grin of his and he would press them fully into yours. The kiss might be tender, might be a little more passionate, but his soft lips would make you wrap your arms around his neck and hold him close.

He loves lip kisses of course, but he also likes to kiss your wrists and the back of your hand if he's feeling playful. He likes getting his temple and neck kissed, even if it makes him blush.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?):

Kurt is excellent around kids. He knows how to handle them, and he is quite playful with them. He always tells you how he wants a few little ones in the future, and he hopes you do too.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?):

Kurt isn't a morning person, he is a little whiny and grumpy when he wakes up, and he is rather clingy. He doesn't like to get out of bed but will trudge after you and hold you from behind if you make breakfast.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?):

Kurt loves his sleep, he values it. In the circus growing up, his mistreatment went as far as being isolated to a cage with a thin layer of hay as cushioning. So, now that he can have an actual bed, he adores it.

He likes soft blankets and pillows, curling up in them like a nest, and holding you close to him. He buries his face in your hair, or he snuggles into your chest for safety.

He doesn't snore, he learned to be silent when he sleeps, you don't ask why. But he makes a tiny purring noise, and his tail stays wrapped around you to make sure you're still there when he wakes up.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?):

Kurt is a pretty open person. Some of the things of his past that are hard for him might take him a while before he tells you, but he just needs to work up the courage. You know that he was mistreated in the circus, so don't pressure him to tell you. He will tell you everything, it just takes time.

He might tell you something that he is uncomfortable with that reminds him of his past or childhood, his playfulness is more serious when he talks about it so you know he's not joking around. He is so grateful you take it seriously and it makes him love you even more.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?):

He is very patient, he learned to be growing up. He can handle quite a lot of shit before he might get a little riled up and upset. Even if he does get angry, he tries to be as reasonable as he can.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?):

He is like a safe, he locks away everything you tell him. Favorite flower, favorite color, little things you like and dislike. He remembers what seasonings you like best with what foods, how you like things cooked, literally everything.

He remembers important things like allergies and triggers, preferences, places to go, everything you say is so important to him. He surprises you with his knowledge too, even you forget you've told him things until he brings it up in conversation.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?):

Definitely when he said he loved you, it was such a special moment between you two and a defining day in your relationship. You grew so much closer, and it was a near perfect day. When he heard you say it back, he swore he died and went to heaven. His heart swelled so much and that day is definitely a core memory for him.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?):

Kurt is protective to a degree. He knows you can handle yourself, but he absolutely won't hesitate to step up and defend you. If anyone speaks about you in a poor manner, he jumps to defend you, especially if you aren't there. He doesn't let anyone talk bad about you.

If you are hurt or can't defend yourself, expect him to be more agile and aggressive than you've ever seen. He will swing those swords and defend you like precious treasure. (Which you are to him).

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?):

Every single date you have, Kurt puts so much effort into. He makes sure things are perfect, he remembers all the little things, he makes sure that you are enjoying yourself and that you have a wonderful time.

Every gift is special and sentimental. Even if it's silly and small, like chocolate, it is always your favorite flavor and brand.

Kurt will adjust to your love language, and acts of service is something he does a lot for you. He will cook, clean, anything if you're too tired to do it. And he never complains, always doing it with a smile on his face.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?):

The only thing that might be perceived as bad is he might be too playful sometimes. He might be a little too light hearted and silly when things need to be more serious, but he gets better with this habit as your relationship develops.

Sometimes his insecurities about his appearance can fester and they can make him slightly more irritable because he feels like you can do so much better than him. Just be sure to reassure him and it usually helps a lot to hear you say sweet things.

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?):

Kurt for the most part doesn't seem too concerned with his appearance, but he does have insecurities when it comes to his looks. Sometimes if he sees an attractive person speaking to you, he feels a little down when he thinks about his own looks.

Besides that, he is very aware of his hygiene because he is covered in velvety fuzz, so he washes himself every day and makes sure he is clean.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?):

Absolutely. Kurt loves you with all his heart, you are his everything. Without you, he would feel like a piece of himself is missing. One of his worst fears is losing you, he often has bad dreams about it and wakes you up at night to make sure you're still with him.

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.):

Kurt was not a contortionist in the circus, but he might as well have been. Kurt is incredibly flexible, able to bend and twist in unnatural angles. He will show you all sorts of things he can do and loves to hear your praise.

He shakes off from the shower like a wet dog.

One of his favorite smells is fresh, buttery popcorn.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

Kurt is a devout Catholic, so he wouldn't want anyone bad mouthing his beliefs. Kurt is very accepting and wouldn't try to convert you or make you believe in things you don't want, he keeps his religious beliefs to himself and only speaks if asked about it. However, if you bad mouth him or his beliefs, he will bristle and he won't like it.

He is open minded to hearing discussions or answering questions if you don't believe, but as long as they are respectful. If you talk poorly about it, he won't be interested in continuing the conversation.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?):

As mentioned before, Kurt loves to sleep. He didn't get a lot of good rest in the circus. So now that he is able, he tends to nest and curl up in a pile of soft blankets and pillows. He loves feeling secure and safe, which is something he never really got before.

If you rest with him, he's either holding you or snuggled into you. He likes to sleep in a dark place, it makes him feel more relaxed. Some nights when he has trouble, he listens to religious passages and he falls asleep quickly.

Thanks for reading.

*BAMF*

dividers by @/adornedwithlight

[foxcantswim]

FNAF Movie / / Vanessa x F!Reader [Safety Latch]

(gif by me)

Vanessa teaches you how to repair Freddy. She's definitely feeling platonic things right now. Contents: Fluff, Angst(ish), First Kiss Warnings: N/A WC: 1,598

(Freddy repair process is based on Help Wanted 1 gameplay)

You nervously circled around Freddy. Even as he sat on the chair he still towered over you. You had only been working at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria for a few months now as the new overnight security guard, you were quite surprised when you got a call telling you to repair the animatronics despite no prior training.

You had thankfully met an officer called Vanessa on the first night on the job, she seemed to know quite a bit about the animatronics.

"Try not to worry too much," Vanessa said as she leaned over to fumble around in some drawers nearby.

"What if I break him?!" you exclaimed, worry in your voice.

Rolling her eyes with a smirk, she looked over at you, "You won't break him. I'm here to teach you the basics."

"I'm surprised you even know how to..."

She shrugged, "There's a lot you don't know about me, Y/N."

Vanessa brought out a small strange looking box and placed it on the desk near Freddy, "What's that?" you pointed towards the box.

"His music has been glitching out a lot lately. That is a music box. I think it's about time he got a replacement, god knows when he last had one," she stood up from her stool which was directly in front of Freddy, she then beckoned you over with her finger, "Sit."

Gulping harshly, you walked over and sat down. Freddy was currently deactivated, yet a slight twinge of fear ran through you. Your eyes landed on a blue bin to your right, there was a couple of different clothing items within it.

Vanessa noticed your curiosity, "That's just in case he has anything inside him that doesn't belong. We always make sure he's thoroughly cleaned out."

You let out a shaky breath with a nod, "Okay... Okay." Vanessa switched on some extra lights to give you more lighting, hoping to help you out a little bit more. Her hand soon landed on your shoulder in comfort. Both of your eyes soon landed on the huge animatronic in front of you.

"Right. Lets get this over and done with." She removed her hand from your shoulder, sadly, and she grabbed a toolkit from a shelf, "Hopefully he doesn't have any irreparable damage," she really did hope it was just the music box that needed switching out.

"Where do we start?" you said, your eyes not daring to leave Freddy.

The blonde put the toolkit onto the desk before moving back to your side, "Okay. First things first we need to get into his chest cavity. I'll walk you through it." She pointed up towards Freddy's chest, "First you need to grab his bowtie and pull it out towards you."

"Wh-What? What if I break it, I-"

"Y/N..." she sighed, "You won't break it. It was designed to do this. You're not scared of this little teddy bear, are you?" she teased as her hand landed on your upper back, pushing you forwards ever so slightly, you shivered under her touch.

A pout had landed on your face at Vanessa's words before you decided to finally raise a shaky hand up towards the bowtie, attempting to face your fears. You had been saying that you were merely afraid of breaking the animatronic... But truthfully you were worried about what this thing was capable of, after all it seemed to be sentient from what you had seen in the past few months.

Finally your hand grasped the bowtie and pulled gently, you didn't expect the chest cavity to fly open so quickly causing you to flinch back.

"There... Good job. That's step one done," her hand moved to your shoulder and squeezed it, "Thankfully there doesn't seem to be anything that doesn't belong in here... Now here comes the fun part," she said through a sigh, sarcasm in her words.

Within the chest cavity you could see some sort of mechanism swinging from side to side, behind it there was a device that seemed to resemble a music box.

"Right, this thing here," she pointed towards the mechanism that was swinging, "Is the safety latch. It causes a shutdown if anything gets in the way. So don't touch it. And don't touch any of his wiring, you can get a nasty shock from it," she eyed the music box in the bottom right of his cavity, "All you need to do is take that out, and then push that red button right there on his endoskeleton to reset his safety latch. Easy?"

You nodded, "Y-Yeah... Sure."

All you had to do was grab the music box without touching the safety latch that was occasionally swinging in front of it. Simple.

"And then you have to reconnect the new music box. Then we are all done. There doesn't seem to be any other damage, so that's all we need to do."

Your already shaky hands seemed to shake even more as you slowly reached towards his chest cavity. You stopped yourself just short of the music box, narrowly avoiding the safety latch.

"Hey... Take it easy. No rush," Vanessa reassured.

A few moments passed and yet your slowly retracted your hand, unsure of what to do. You definitely didn't expect for Vanessa's own hand to slowly lay on top of yours, "Here... I'll help you," her voice was soft, her face flushed a slight red.

You could feel your heart beating rapidly as Vanessa's cool skin smoothed over your warm hand.

"And... Here we go," she slowly guided your hand towards the music box, the safety latch still slowly swinging left and right. Her head was next to yours, her breath tickling the side of your ear. You could feel her chest resting against your back as she leaned over your shoulder, "Just one quick grab, okay?" you flexed your fingers as Vanessa moved your hand closer.

It was over before you knew it, Vanessa had successfully guided your hand to the box and helped you remove it with no complications. You were surprised at how easy the box seemed to detach.

"See. You did it," her voice was quiet as she still kept her head next to yours, "Nice job, Y/N," she removed her hand from yours finally, you had to stop yourself from reaching back out for it, "Lemme get that for you." She expertly pressed the red button whilst dodging the safety latch, the latch then slowly came to a stop.

You placed the damaged music box onto the desk before grabbing a new one. Vanessa stepped aside so you could put the new music box inside the chest cavity. At least the safety latch no longer moved, this was a piece of cake.

"You'll be a natural in no time," Vanessa smirked at you as you finished connecting the music box, "I'm proud of you for not fucking it up at least."

You couldn't help but smile.

Vanessa proceeded to close Freddy's chest cavity and put the bowtie back in place.

You didn't really know what came over you, but you decided to stand up from the stool and walk over towards Vanessa, "I definitely couldn't of done it without you." She turned around to meet your gaze. You could already feel the blush spreading across your cheek as you reached up to kiss her on the cheek, "Thanks, Van."

A shy laugh escaped Vanessa, "No worries, Y/N."

The pair of you still stood face to face, neither daring to move away. You barely caught Vanessa's gaze flickering down to your lips, you felt as if your heart was about to beat out of your chest.

Vanessa took you not moving away as a sign, and she slowly leaned in. Her lips brushed against yours, almost feather light. Your eyes closed shut at the contact. She couldn't stop herself from smiling into the kiss as she decided to deepen it ever so slightly. You were shocked at the sudden kiss, you never even thought about Vanessa having feelings towards you.

You stepped forwards to get closer to her, but Vanessa abruptly pulled away as her back banged into Freddy.

She let out a laugh, "Sorry, Freddy," she pat Freddy's knee. She looked back at you, a soft look in her eyes. You were about to speak but were cut off by Vanessa pecking your lips once again, "We'll have plenty of time to talk about this later, Y/N," she smiled.

"Y-Yeah..." you gulped.

Vanessa's hand cupped your jaw and her thumb rubbed your cheek. You were just about to lean into her touch but she suddenly pulled away. She nodded her head towards the door, "Come on, Y/N. It's about time we go and check up on the others. They're not going to repair themselves." Her hand interlocked with yours to your surprise.

Your breath hitched as you were dragged out the room, she shot a wink your way.

A part of you didn't want to do this anymore, another sense of dread washing over you. But an even bigger part of you would do anything to be that close to Vanessa again. You'd do anything to get her to guide your hand again. In any way she wanted.

Vanessa opened the door.

You simply smiled once you saw Bonnie.

Vanessa x F!Reader - Jealousy (Fluff,Angst,Established Relationship)

Vanessa x F!Reader - Total Insecurity (Angst,Hurt/Comfort)

[mamawasatesttube]

#25 for the gentle prompts, maybe? :D

25. "You can sit on my lap."

By the fifth time Tim shifts his weight, leans on his staff, and heaves a sigh more explosive than Mount St. Helens, Kon has just about had it. The stubborn set to Tim's jaw means he doesn't want Kon to point out that he's clearly tired, but also, uh, the idiot is clearly tired, and it's getting a little ridiculous.

"Rob."

Tim holds up an imperious finger. "Don't say anything. I'm fine."

Kon rolls his eyes. "We're probably gonna be stuck up here for stakeout purposes for, like, at least another hour or two. You might as well make it easier on both of us."

Tim gives him a mildly dirty look. It's probably supposed to be worse than mildly dirty, but despite himself, Tim hasn't been able to stop looking at Kon with, like, heart eyes, ever since his resurrection and return. Even when they're bickering like they did as kids. It... it gets Kon, sometimes. He tries not to think about it too hard.

"I'm fine," Tim repeats stubbornly. He folds his arms over his chest and stares down at the warehouse they're watching. "I'm fully capable of finishing the stakeout."

Oh, for the love of—

Kon leans over and bonks him on top of his cowled head. "Yeah, I wasn't disputing that, dumbass."

Tim stiffens for a second. Then he heaves another huge sigh, his shoulders slumping. "...Sorry," he mutters, scuffing one boot against the wet rooftop; a pebble goes skittering off towards the edge. "I, uh... sometimes get all defensive and kinda grouchy when I'm tired."

Both amused and endeared, Kon snorts. "Yeah, trust me, I've noticed." He lightly tugs at Tim's cape. "You've been on your feet for hours. Why not sit for a bit at least?"

Tim glances down at the wet rooftop and makes a face. It's been raining on and off since afternoon faded into evening, and Kon has to concede the point; stakeout or not, that's not the coziest place to chill. Sitting in a puddle might mean Tim's poor ass gets hypothermic—literally, his ass. Yikes.

Well, easy solution. Kon hops up onto an invisible recliner and leans back comfortably, then holds out his arms. "C'mere. You can sit in my lap."

For the second time in as many minutes, Tim freezes for half a heartbeat. Kon can hear his heart rate kick up a notch, can hear the breath catch in his throat, can hear his eyelashes brush the insides of the lenses in his cowl as he blinks rapidly.

Even behind the cowl, the look on his face is still as fond as ever. It does things to Kon's heart, too, if he's being honest.

"...Yeah, okay," Tim says. It's several seconds too late to be casual, but both of them politely don't acknowledge that.

Kon tugs him into his lap, winds his arms around his waist, and wraps his TTK around him for extra security. Tim sighs again, softer this time. He's stiff for a moment, but when Kon doesn't start screaming about cooties or whatever, he relaxes incrementally, muscle by muscle. Finally, after several heartbeats, his head comes to rest against Kon's.

Oh, Kon thinks. Oh.

This is nice.

Oh, no.

"Um. Thanks," Tim mutters. His heart is definitely beating faster. His fingers curl into Kon's jacket. Fuck, Kon likes that—he likes that a lot. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.

"Anytime, Rob," he answers, way more casually than Tim managed, if he does say so himself. "Make yourself comfy. You barely weigh anything to me anyways."

"Mn." Tim goes quiet, but after a moment, he does slip his arm around Kon's shoulders, and... that's really nice, too.

"I guess we should keep watching for our guy to come out of there, huh." Kon forces his attention away from Tim and back down to the warehouse. They're on a mission here. He can't just get distracted by... by... canoodling.

"Yeah," Tim agrees, and—is Kon imagining it, or is there a note of reluctance somewhere deep down in his voice? "I guess we should."

[sgtcosmo]

under the weather - 141 headcanons

cw: none, just pure (established relationship) fluff <3 only pronoun used for reader is 'you'

a/n: i'm sick as shit rn and i've been laying in bed all day thinking about how the 141 would care for gn!reader while they're sick, so this is a lil bit self-indulgent hehe!! also, thank you for the love on my first drabble that i posted a couple days ago, it makes me so happy :') enjoy these!

gaz:

-he's an absolute sweetheart all the time already, but when you're sick? oh my god

-checking in on you every 10 minutes, even if it annoys you. he has to know that you're doing okay!!

-i hc him as being a great cook, so he definitely makes you some good ass homemade soups

-THIS ONE MADE MY HEART MELT WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT IT but he would absolutely read to you. it'd either be wherever he left off in the most recent book he's reading on his own, or he'd grab one of your favourites from the shelf and start from the beginning

-lets you use his lap as a pillow while he reads to you, holding the book with one hand and playing with your hair with the other

-rubs your back soothingly when you're having one of those god awful coughing fits

-when he goes to the store to get you medicine and such, he'll facetime you the whole time. he'll show you the medicine and snacks/drinks at the store and let you pick which ones you want (he also wants to make sure that you're alright while he's gone <3)

-gives you his warmest and nicest sweaters to wear, doesn't care if they get dirty

ghost:

-runs you a bath and lets you soak in the warm water while he washes your hair

-will absolutely make you a hot cup of tea with honey to soothe your sore throat

-canned soup kinda guy. he'd still try his best to make it as appetizing as possible though, adding in extra bits that he knows you like

-you're not lifting a finger once he finds out you're sick. your household chores? they're his now. those errands you were supposed to run today? oops, he's already got his shoes on and keys in hand

-will not let you out of his sight. always keeps a watchful eye on you, no matter what. he took over your duty of washing the dishes? he's bundling you up in 10 blankets on the couch in the living room so he can turn around every 30 seconds and silently check on you

-would probably set reminders on his phone so you take your medicine exactly when you're supposed to, even if it's 3 am. he's up and fetching everything you need before you can even complain about the reminder going off and waking you up

-picks you up and carries you around the house so you don't have to walk

soap:

-still cuddles and kisses you, despite your attempts to push him away to prevent him from also getting sick. he doesn't give a shit

-plays video games with you, or watches you play. i feel like he'd be a try-hard at games and wouldn't take losing lightly, but he'd let you win just because you're sick. if you call him out for it, then he'd probably just make some half-assed excuse and say he must be having an 'off day'

-i feel like he's a canned soup-er, like ghost. will make a bowl for himself as well though so he can eat it with you

-pillow fort? pillow fort. makes a huge one in the living room with a big nest of blankets in it for you both to cuddle in. he even makes a little window through the pillows so you can see the tv and watch your favourite movies

-will order your favourite take-out for you once you feel well enough to eat something other than soup

-would make you laugh so much that it sends you into coughing fits (laughter is the best medicine, after all ;))

price:

-much like ghost, he'd keep a very watchful eye on you and check in on you often

-definitely a homemade soup guy. if there's a specific canned soup that you want, he'll make it exactly how it is, but better

-cuddles with you under a pile of blankets as you watch shitty rom-coms together

-lets you lay on him while you sleep, even if it's for hours at a time. he'd keep his arms wrapped securely around you and kiss the top of your head occasionally

-is willing to do anything and everything you need in order to get you back to good health as quickly as possible. just say the word and he's got it

-would buy medicine in every flavour it comes in just so you can try them all and see what one tastes best so taking it isn't such a miserable experience (i feel like soap would probably do this too? but he'd treat it more as a fun taste test ranking kind of thing)

-will go on short walks outside with you in hopes that the fresh air will make you feel better. he's bundling you up like nobody's business if it's cold outside, though

[blusherbaker]

Some extra thoughts about the Octavinelle boys' kinks

Minors/ageless blogs DNI; all characters are 18+ for these scenarios

I'm back with few more ideas I had, expanding on this post of mine

Warnings: Smut, 2nd person and 3rd person neutral pronouns, discussion/mention of multiple kinks of different varieties, including those related to D/s dynamics, feeding and stuffing, lactation, etc.

It is somewhat dependent on how he feels at the time, but Azul usually finds bondage to be incredibly soothing. The sensation is comforting, and it gives him a sense of security and safety, especially since there is so much trust involved. He’d be likely to even give mummification a try at some point, and would almost definitely like it. (He finds it cozy/safe, as well as arousing.)

I'm 95% sure that the Leech twins would like something to do with feeding and/or stuffing. They both (canonically!) have a focus on feeding others, and watching others eat - especially Floyd - and Jade often talks about eating, and/or is shown eating huge quantities of food. It’s a little wild, actually! Chances are, Floyd prefers to feed his partner, whereas Jade prefers being fed (though he also enjoys feeding too), and it seems likely to me that Floyd would be more interested in feeding, whereas Jade would be more interested in stuffing. 

I'm certain that Jade likes seeing people cry. He'd find it not only amusing, but in the right situation, incredibly arousing as well. It wouldn't matter if his partner was a "pretty" or "ugly" crier, just watching them break down sobbing from emotion or sensation - seeing the effect he has on them - would excite him greatly. And if the tears were accompanied by babbling or begging? Jade would be in heaven. 

Floyd's lactation kink is mostly in the realm of interest / curiosity, rather than pure desire. While all three of these men don't have nipples in their original forms (since they're... y'know, not mammals), I think Floyd stumbled upon the concept of lactation, and simply found it to be especially fascinating. Like… people just make milk? And it's technically possible for anyone to do it? He finds the thought pretty hot, and would love to experience it in some form or another at some point. Whether that’s working towards you lactating, or possibly even inducing it in himself, Floyd may end up quite interested in this kink for a period of time!

I'd love to hear your thoughts / opinions on this, or anything in the original post ^v^

[ghoulfuckersincorporated]

Wait, how would Cooper feel about thigh high stockings with some of those heels? Possibly a garter belt too? Or even just knowing that his partner has them on underneath whatever they usually wear? My mind goes blank when I see them on a pretty lady (or a man or anyone else really, I'm bisexual) Something about wearing them also makes me feel super hot but also powerful? Is that weird?

Oh, they feel very powerful, Anon. That's definitely not weird. In fact, I'd argue that that's one of the main selling points of them. It's very empowering and confidence-boosting to feel desirable and sexy.

That's why Cooper would absolutely adore seeing you in the entire get-up. He'd also like seeing you be so confident...

I think it would start small, maybe him gifting you your first very nice set of lingerie for your first Valentine's Day together. To you and your current financial situation, nice lingerie is simply defined as "a cute-ish top and bottoms that match and aren't completely ratty".

It's been about a year since he and Barb officially divorced, and about four months since you and Cooper started dating. You're both still quite low-key about it, not wanting to deal with the drama or the guilt of making Barb feel bad, but you're wild about one another. Coop likes being with someone who is more down-to-earth like he is, someone who he could really see raising chickens with him. You enjoy the older man's kindness, his generous nature, all the things he can show and teach you from years of life experience.

You aren't inexperienced, sexually, but the things you've tried aren't exactly adventurous. He catches you reading a steamy novel one evening, though, and suddenly you're getting quite the interrogation about what naughty things you like while he tickles you and kisses at your neck. And trust me, you will be divulging that information; he's a patient man, and if he has to wait until the next time you have an extra glass of wine with dinner to ask again, he will.

One of the things you eventually mention, lips loose after too much New Year's champagne, is how you've always liked the idea of dressing up in sexy lingerie, high heels and all, parading around a tied-up man like a prowling seductress.

So, naturally, you're over the moon when, a week before Valentine's Day, he gives you a gorgeous satiny bra and panty set and some stockings to go with. The sizing is perfect, of course, because he's so wonderful about attention to detail. The garter belt confuses you when you try it on, but eventually you manage to wrestle it all into place, and you're blown away by your reflection in the mirror. Cooper insists you don't show him what it looks like on until the day of, and you keep to that. But after your romantic dinner together that evening, you find yourself almost overly giddy to get out of the nice dress you'd chosen for your date. He's been shooting you heart-stopping glances all night, running his eyes up and down your body like he knows what you're hiding underneath your clothes.

Which, of course, he does.

When you finally get home, he takes great pleasure in slowly peeling you out of the thing, revealing the black satin and silk and the little bow between your breasts. Your feet have much less traction than usual against the hardwood floors in the stockings, but you're sure in your step as his eyes on you give you a huge confidence boost. Leading him to his bedroom, you push him down on the bed and kiss him for a long while before telling him to stay put, disappearing from the room and reappearing with a few lengths of rope in hand, his white cowboy hat on your head.

A few minutes later, his arms are outstretched just enough to keep him from being able to reach his body with his hands, the knots around his arms and the headboard posts nice and secure. He taught you the knots, and you'd really enjoyed learning them, but you still didn't think it had been fair of him to test your knowledge on them while he made you cockwarm him. But that's a score to settle another day.

You enjoy taking your time teasing him, running your tongue and nails along his chest and stomach, noting the way he shivers as you run your fingers along the waistband of his slacks. After he pleads a little, you free him from his open fly and tease him with your lips and tongue until he's pleading again. You smile wickedly at him as you move back.

Balancing on your rear and your palms, you lean back as far as you can while still staying upright between his knees, slowly and intentionally running your silk-clad feet all along the planes of his bare chest, appreciating his physique as you tease all the way up to his collar bones. A giggle leaves you when he cranes his neck to allow himself to nibble at your ankles, but the playful little kick you give him to the forehead sends him staring you down with a heat in his gaze. When he's settled down, you move your feet back down to the trail of hair that leads to his twitching, throbbing erection.

"Dirty tricks, little lady." he growls when you start to gently rub your smooth sole back and forth across his cock. You've managed to sniff out this particular kink of his between all the "secret" little glimpses at you after you take off your heels at the end of the day, the glut of compliments about how pretty your feet are, the regular pedicures he happily pays for. The massages where he can barely conceal his growing erection. You'd thought it a little strange at first, but he didn't judge you for your stranger proclivities, so you tried your best to grant him the same grace.

Plus, it was really quite hot how worked up he got about it, and you certainly didn't mind all the gifted shoes.

Since you've already been working him up and teasing him, he quickly reaches his end. You're both a little shocked by exactly how hard he cums, and how much, jet after hot jet spattering across his chest, his stomach, and your stockings, a low, guttural groan leaving him as you continue to gently pet at him until he pleads with you to stop. You can't help but notice that he seems like he's having a hard time meeting your gaze.

The whole display is incredibly erotic to you, despite what you may have thought about this sort of thing before. You'd never considered how much you could enjoy having a man you actually liked and trusted thinking your feet were very, very sexy, and now the whole thing has you ready to plant yourself down on him and never get off.

"Well, are you gonna untie me so I can return the favor, darlin'?" he asks eventually, face and neck still pink as he finally seems to gather up the courage to look over at you. You grin, slinking forward to lean in and kiss him deeply, running your fingers through the cooling rivulets of semen painting his toned chest.

"Mmm, I dunno, cowboy." you tut, pulling his hat from your head and giving your hair a seductive shake as you place it onto his. "I sorta like you like this. I'm thinking about maybe taking you for a little test ride."

His muscles flex against his restraints as he grins impishly at you. You have him under your control, and you intend to keep him that way for quite a while. Your pretty lingerie will definitely be destroyed by the time you're finished with each other, but no worries; he's got another of the exact same set hidden in the closet, ready to replace it so you can have one to actually keep.

He's just thoughtful like that. 😈

To the innocent anon: I'm sorry I used your submission to write foot job porn. :( Well, I'm kinda sorry.

I do feel at least a little bad, scout's honor.

[scholastic-dragon]

Kiss on the corner of the mouth with the Purple menace? (Whichever movie/cartoon iteration you prefer)

But could I suggest framing it like a reaction thing?

And the girlfriend is generally shy most of the time. Except she was the one to make the first move asking him out. The one to initiate hand-holding and now the first one to give a light kiss. So she's sorta ballsy to an extent.

Maybe it gets steamy when Don realises he's been holding back for nothing.

yes I love this

I'm doing Rise Donnie cause I feel like that works the best!

Rise!Donnie x Fem!reader

Holding Back

Warnings: both Donnie and Reader are over 18, don't throw a fit there are no minors here, spelling mistakes, smootches, first time making out, up against a wall kiss, almost feral donnie,

Being bold wasn't exactly something you were used to.

As Mikey put it, you liked to hide in your shell. You got nervous and overstimulated quite fast, so you preferred to let others take the lead.

But with Donnie, you almost had to take the lead. You were the one to confess your feelings while eating pizza on some roof somewhere after midnight.

The one to plan dates and snuggle up into his side during movie nights. You reached for his hand when he was walking you home after movie nights and gave him extra long hugs goodbye.

And while Donnie never stopped your advances, he didn't actively make any.

You knew he struggled with affection, but sometimes it felt like he just didn't care.

Thankfully, his brothers and April constantly reminded you and showed you the little things he did that proved he liked you.

Your name in his contacts had a little heart, his lock screen was a selfie you both had taken, you were his emergency contact and your hand print had been added to the lair's security system in case of emergencies.

For Donnie those things were huge acts of trusts and it gave you comfort knowing those things.

Now you were walking hand in hand after movie night, he had just helped you up the fire escape and opened your living room window. You both stepped inside, and you couldn't help but stare at him. He, of course, was oblivious.

"....anyway, Raph and Leo wanted to go to another wrestling match this weekend, so I should be able to clear my schedule enough to make time for another date."

Oh shoot, had he been talking this whole time?

It was easy to get distracted looking at him, he had a strong jaw, handsome cheekbones and broad shoulders and arms.

"Y/n?" He waved a three fingered hand in front of your face.

Shoot! He was still talking!

"Uh...what?"

He shook his head. "Are you feeling alright? You've been zoning in and out all night," He pressed the back of his hand to your forehead.

You laughed, feeling yourself blush. "Yeah, just thinking,"

"Yeah, aren't we all," Donnie smiled, looking down at his watch. "Well, it's getting a bit late,"

"Right, goodnight, honey, I'll text you in the morning on my way to work," You weren't sure what came over you, but you leaned forward, kissing the corner of his mouth.

He froze, eyes squinted, standing still as stone: it didn't even look like he was breathing. You almost thought you broke him.

"What...?" He choked out, thankful his blushing wasn't as obvious as yours.

"It was a kiss goodnight," You chuckled, silently hoping you didn't make him uncomfortable.

"Are we at the kissing stage?" He asked with full seriousness, still not moving.

"Um...yeah, I guess we can be," You laughed softly, shrugging your shoulders.

Donnie inhaled sharply, coming out of his trance and stepping toward you. Lifting his hands, he cupped the sides of your face, tipped your head back and started to lean in.

Oh, geez, was he really about to do this now?

As gently and softly as he could, Donnie pressed a kiss to your lips. You sighed, relaxing into his embrace, your arms travelling up his wrists and squeezing his biceps.

As you kissed him back, you felt something switch in him. his arms went rigid and he sucked in a deep breath.

"Donnie?" You asked breathlessly, and that only sent him over the edge more. Pulling you in a circle, Donnie pressed you against your living room wall, right next to your still open window.

Using his plastron he kept you pinned against the wall, his arms gripping your hips and roughly squeezing your sides as they traveled up.

He kissed you again, this time much harder, teeth and tongue and groans getting lost between your bodies. One hand slipped behind you, curling around your lower back and reaching across to grab you hip, making you hook your leg around his waist.

At your gasp, his tongue slipped into your mouth, exploring and learning every part of you.

Your hands massaged up his arms, then his shoulders before twirling his bandanna tails around your fingers.

Feeling a burning in his chest, Donnie pulled away, a thick strong of saliva connecting you both. Panting and chest heaving as you stared at one another.

Through his heavy breathing you heard the faintest chirps and purrs coming from him.

You giggled softly, pressing your forehead to his.

"That was...." Breathlessly chuckling, you gave him a quick peck.

"Yeah, I...um, I didn't know if you were comfortable or okay with us kissing, so I just refrained from trying,"

"Why on earth would I be uncomfortable kissing you?"

"I'm a turtle," You both chuckled softly. "By all accounts it seemed like a simple no,"

"Does this seem like a 'no' to you?" Wrapping your arms tighter around his neck you pulled his chest flush to yours, your lips ghosting his. Your leg pulling on his hip to keep him close, he widened his stance to hold part of your weight.

"It most certainly does not,"

tags: @turtle-babe83 @thelaundrybitch @sketch-and-write-lover @happymoonangel @sewerninno @strawberrycakeblog @dilucsflame33 @knightish-knight @tmnt-tychou @sharpwindow @eveandtheturtles

[goldenpinof]

lmao now someone at tm has said the vip is cancelled which is clearly some poor customer service person who’s uninformed. this whole thing is a fucking disaster like could not be worse i fear. the venue said ticketmaster will give refunds for a portion of the ticket to get it back down to ga pricing and will communicate that soon. seems reliable but who knows. my hope is that at the least, everyone in this position is given silver vip perks for free so they at least get to interact with dnp and get the merch. it’ll never be a perfect solution bc dnp can only meet so many people but it’s the LEAST they can do even if it wasnt their fault tm fucked up so so badly

i have so many things to say about it but i'll try not to. Seattle, y'all.

i've seen two emails from the Ticketmaster manager and the venue's manager that say, "the VIP portion of the event has been cancelled" and "the VIP package portion of these orders will be cancelled". and the 1st one is probably just bad wording. which is confusing, but it's great that we have the 2nd email. there's also information about Silver VIPs having the same problem. which just says that Gold VIPs aren't gonna be downgraded to Silver. although, i don't see why.

because realistically, Ticketmaster can talk to dnp (not even to the venue, UTA or AEG, or their managers, dnp directly. if these 3 organizations + dnp IT managers can't come to a conclusion that every party is gonna be okay with) and try to solve this problem with them. Ticketmaster can't give us what we want themselves, but dnp surely can. and that is - at least Silver VIPs with preshow and VIP merch bundles. like, they are physically able to do this. it doesn't matter if there are 100 people at the preshow or 150 (edit: it would likely be 350 instead of 100. everything else still stands. making extra 300 VIP merch bundles is possible). they are all gonna be sitting there listening to dnp yap for 30-ish mins anyway. i understand why dnp can't make a pool of Gold VIPs bigger only because Ticketmaster fucked up. meeting people in person takes time and energy, even if in theory that could be done (a 2-hour meet and greet lmao), it would be harder for everyone involved. but Silver VIPs don't require anything extra from dnp or the venue. they are gonna be on stage anyway, so who the fuck cares if it's a little bit more people than they planned. these 2 added USA shows weren't planned either, and now they are making extra VIP bundles for them. so even that is not a problem. and before someone says, "safety issues and security", hire more people for 3 hours.

you know where i'm getting? it's a solvable problem, but only dnp can put pressure on the companies involved to solve it. if they only cared. because of course, AEG and the venue are gonna tell Ticketmaster to just quietly solve it themselves the way they can. but the thing is, they can't do it without upsetting dozens of people who were told they would meet dnp, get to the preshow, and have VIP merch. and now they don't get any of it at all. you see how fucked up the communication is and how easily Ticketmaster, dnp and us could meet in the middle with Silver VIPs? not even for free. "my hope is that at the least, everyone in this position is given silver vip perks for free so they at least get to interact with dnp and get the merch" i get why that would be very cool, but i don't think making it free has to be an option. downgrading Gold VIPs to Silver VIPs, and refunding only the m&g part would be more than enough. but they are not gonna fucking do it!!!! because communication is so freaking hard for companies and some people, that they rather die than propose a compromise and meet in the middle to solve a huge problem, if you ask me.

i'm not angry at dnp, btw. it should be Ticketmaster screaming, crying, throwing up trying to contact anyone they can to reach dnp, and solve this problem. oh, and there are commissions and shit, so Ticketmaster should be fined for this (and i fucking hope they are).

@danielhowell @amazingphil twitter is tagging you like crazy. i guess it's not enough.

[jewish-vents]

Constantly visiting this blog and reading the rants of other Jews suffering like me....I cannot stop crying all the time. So much of us in pain and no one listening. I'm scared. Will it take something huge for everyone else to listen? How far will their hatred go? I can't stop thinking about that post on R/Jewish titled "Be ready this time." Will they still gaslight us even when the hatred becomes so big even they cannot deny or ignore it?

As a South Asian, I saw how brown people were lumped together and suffered after 9/11. To this day, everyone still makes 9/11 jokes but it was us who paid the price. How bad will the world punish us for this? I can't stop feeling suicidal. We will always be blamed for everything wrong in the world. We will never have allies, even our own people turn their backs on us in order to secure that "Good Jew" spot to avoid the dire consequences of being a "bad one".

I hate how betrayed I feel. It was so predictable, yk? The switch up. For the past few years, I couldn't stop feeling like antisemitism was gonna be back in style soon. My family thought it was just paranoia. Then it happened and yet I don't think I could ever get over it or stomach it. How do we even begin to process how quickly everyone embraced extreme, conservative levels of antisemitism? The moment they all took the stance that "Antisemitism isn't real/nothing is antisemitism not even antisemitism is antisemitism" against Israel's "everything is antisemitism", everything went to shit.

Watching the antisemitism happen in real time haunts me too....I can barely sleep. October 7th was already such a horrible day on the internet, don't get me wrong but on my side, at least I saw some people trying to push the "peace for all sides" stance. But after a week or so (maybe a few days tbh), I saw the antisemitism take over everywhere and it replays in my mind, making me sick. They couldn't wait to hate us. They were so happy that they no longer had to care about Jews or antisemitism (They never even spoke about us or our oppression anyways but now they can finally talk about us like the conservatives they oh so hate while also gaslighting us!)

And it sucks to admit but it hurts even more that my fellow people of color and queer people see us as such threats. We're just supposed to take it. We can't ever talk about how Muslims have oppressed us....When Kanye went Nazi, I saw a lot of people fall into antisemitic conspiracies and put the blame on us as well as all their anger and frustrations because somehow it's our fault he never got deplatformed for his "slavery was a choice" remarks and we always have "an agenda". We're just the perfect punching bags because there's so little of us and most people in the world have never met a Jew and yet think they know us through "The Jews killed Jesus" and "The Jews own the world".

I love you all. Everyone who posts on here and of course the person or persons who run this blog. I know we will survive this. We are so strong....we shouldn't have to be but we are anyway and I'm so proud. We've been here before and we will probably be here again over and over. But I'm so honored.

They can try to run over random Jews and shoot our schools and get the world to turn against any Jew by simply calling them a Zionist (which starts a serious isolation of Jews from the world as many Jews get boycotted in the name of antizionism) and attack our elders as they leave synagogues and leave antisemitic flyers in our neighborhoods saying we are the one true evil and do everything you can possibly imagine to harm us and we'll always be here. Everyone finally gets unity through Judenhass but what's new?

Thank you for this blog. It's so easy to feel like we're so alone but we have each other 💕 Sorry for this really long rant. I came here feeling extra hurt because I lost another friend recently. She came to me to have a long antisemitic rant about this white Jewish girl in our circle. Then a concerned friend sent me screenshots of a thread laughing and mocking us on 4chan (🤢🤮) about how Leftists hate Jews more than 4chan now. I can't take any of this anymore. But I am truly grateful for this blog and this space to yell and scream 💕

.

[blushcoloreddreams]

Packed for success - 16 tips for successful packing

Hello and welcome back to the blog!

We are headed on vacation soon, and I wanted to quickly do a little write-up for you all on some of my methods for packing. Enjoy!

1. Research your trip

I have been doing this method for a few years now, and it NEVER fails me! I'll sit down, take a pause, and really think about every single activity I'm about to embark on for my vacation. If I'm going to a foreign country, I'll research the local culture and clothing expectations: I'll of course, research the weather, look into all the activities I will be doing, and think through every single detail, from the terrain I will be walking on, to the types of restaurants we will be attending.

When I went to Portugal for a month, I made sure to meticulously research the climate, the weather, and all of the sites we were going to see.

2. Write a list (check it twice)

Obviously write a list. We all do this when we pack (I hope.) As long as I can remember, I have looooooved packing lists. As soon as the teacher sent home the packing list for the class trip, I could not wait to look through each detail and plan everything out. I'm still the same today, but now, I like to write my lists on notion, and reference it the week before we leave. Nothing is more satisfying than checking off a packing list!

3. Pack ahead of time

This seems obvious: we all have to pack before we leave the house! But I'm talking waaaaay ahead of time... like 3 days ahead of time! Of course, you can't exactly do this with your toiletries, but I have found that packing ahead of time always allows me a little wiggle room to figure out what I need, if I need to purchase anything, and what might need to be adjusted.

4. Pack your purse

This is an overlooked region of the travel aresenal, but I do NOT believe in having a messy purse full of ancient granola and chapsticks rolling around like tumbleweeds on the floor of your Kate Spade. No no no. Clean out your purse, set aside what you want to bring, and leave the rest. Pack it with your essentials, then add in some special extras like some extra concealer, a mascara, and anything else you might need for touch-ups along the way.

5. Clean your house

Before I go on a trip, I always clean the house. This is nice in case you have someone to be the house sitter, but also gives me peace of mind when I return, that I don't have a huge mess waiting for me. Returning home from a vacation can sometimes feel depressing, and there is no need to add a depressing house mess on top of that!

6. Check your dirty laundry pile ahead of time

Ideally, you are going to want to leave your home with NO dirty laundry because when you return, you're going to have a lot of laundry to do anyways, but if this is unfeasible, I encourage you to at least make sure that nothing you were planning on packing is hiding in the dirty laundry well in advance of your departure date. We've all played out the scenario of running around our home looking for that one specific black long sleeve we were planning to bring on vacation, only to realize it's lurking underneath three weeks of wet towels and dirty socks. Yuck.

7. Do a test-run of your outfits

I always always always test run my outfits. I try on what I plan to wear, see if I like it, and if I do, it goes in the bag! I can usually gauge what I'm going to want to wear based off of my favorite recent outfits, but just to be safe, I will test run the looks and see what works! This is also helpful if you plan on packing light, because you can switch up your looks and mix and match the pieces as you go.

8. Don't forget a technology bag

We always bring our technology with us when we travel, as I often have work to do, and it's nice to have a computer to watch movies on. We pack this up in advance as well, and always make sure that everything is secure, especially for air travel!

9. Pack the entertainment

This will be different for everyone. I used to bring physical books and things on vacation, but now I just download a few books from my kindle, download some podcasts, maybe an audiobook and make sure I have all the games on my phone I want. Of course, this means bringing headphones, extra phone chargers, and any other technology-related entertainment. So bring what works for you, and try to plan it as if you had no access to LTE or wifi, just in case.

10. Bring the little things

These are the little things that are specific to you. For me, this would be downloading a few podcasts for the flight, making sure I have an extra pair of underwear in my purse in case I feel grimy during travel, and usually a journal and pen for when I want to get creative or thoughtful. We all have little things we like that are specific to our personalities and idiosyncrasies: pack them up!

12. Combination Packing

When traveling with family it’s not a bad idea to pack clothes together if staying in the same room It streamlines everything, and makes it cheaper when we do air travel! Packing the other person’s clothes on one side, and mine on the other, and will employ packing cubes or the vacuum bags if necessary . Keeping things neat and tidy in the suitcase is an important aspect to having a great trip!

13. Pack your house up

I go through a checklist before we leave, locking all the windows, and throwing away the trash, pouring vinegar down the kitchen sink drain, and leaving the laundry machine open to breathe. I also make sure that the fridge doesn't have anything gross in it or that may become moldy by the time I’m back and that I have the temperature at the right levels. Can't be too careful!

14. Hair, makeup, skin, & accessories

I pack a separate bag for each of these things, but I do make sure to whittle down to only the necessities. I pack mascara, eyeliner, an eyelash curler, blush, foundation, concealer, and one small palette of eyeshadow, with a beauty blender and three brushes. Keeping it to the minimum makes life SO much easier. I also like to put my liquids and gels into cute travel-size carriers

16. Shoe protectors are key

A little trick I've learned is to wrap your shoes in plastic bags or shoe protectors when you travel to avoid getting your clothes dirty from any leftover shoe gunk!

17. Phone, keys, wallet, ID, passport REPEAT

This is what I repeat to myself as I walk around the house the morning before. Pro tip as well, if you know you will be needing your passport when you book your vacation, don't wait until the week before to check if it's still up to date! Get all that done ahead of time and cut out allllll the stress. I like to keep my keys on a cute keychain, secure my phone in a special purse pocket, and only take the essentials in my small snap-wallet.

15. Germ killers

I do NOT leave home without antibacterial gel on hand. I know that it is NEARLY impossible to avoid germs when you travel, but we should not give up the fight! I like to wear driving gloves if it's winter, for most of the flight, and use my antibacterial gel when before eating at a flight or airport. I also keep a medical face mask tucked away in my purse in case I get into a hairy situation with a coughing seat mate, God forbid

16. Pack your attitude

This is my last bit of advice, but you really should manage your attitude before a vacation. Vacations and trips are INVESTMENTS. They are investments into your happiness, and investments into the concept of making memories and exploring or relaxing during your time here on earth. When you enter into a vacation or a trip with a sour attitude, you are essentially robbing YOURSELF of your own investment, not to mention the fact that you are also robbing everyone around you of their investment. If you have a bad attitude on a trip, are prone to acting bitchy or rude when you travel, or have any other sort of unpleasant behavioral tendencies when it comes to vacations, knock it off. You will be happy you did.

Alright! That is all I have for you today. As you can tell, I'm always quite excited for a good trip.

xoxo,

Julia

[wa-royal-tea]

I'm back! Kinda + What I've been up to + Timezone Change, Story Posting Update

Heyyyy thur guys! I’m back, kinda. Sorry it took me a while to update you guys on what I’ve been working on, life has been extra busy since July 31st for me 💀 I won't post a story update yet as I still have things to do but I mightttt return by the end of September.

If you wanna know what I've been up to, read under the cut. Just a warning, it's pretty long 💀

I have an update on what I've been working on irl and it's kind of an exciting news, at least for me lol. So, in case anyone is wondering what I've been up to, I'm actually preparing to further my Masters overseas and this plan has been a wip since last year. I've been studying for my IELTS because the universities I've applied to requires me to take it. And then I had my graduation ceremony for my Bachelor's Degree after waiting for SO long bcs of Covid. It was one of the happiest day in my life bcs I got the Vice Chancellor's award!!! Sorry for the bragging there, I'm just so proud of myself :') I worked my ass off to maintain my CGPA every semester so getting that award really felt like all of that hard work was worth it :')

After all that is done, I applied to the Uni's that I wanted and surprisingly, all the Uni's I applied to gave me an offer which is pretty neat! I accepted one of the offers and then I had to look for a sponsorship.

I kept it a hush-hush kind of thing and only told several of my close friends about what I was planning to do bcs it was something that I wasn't sure that I'll be getting so anytime that I was taking a "break", I was actually working on this in the background (had to attend zoom interviews with the Uni's. Doing the tasks in order to get an interview invite etc.). It was a stressful process but yeah, this is what I've had planned for me when I was younger so I was determined to make it happen no matter what! Your girl is not one to give up easily! 😤

So around June this year, the sponsorship that I've been aiming for opened and I applied for it, got the results that I had been offered a full-ride sponsorship on July 31st and everything became so busy for me because I had to prepare the necessary documents to be sent to the sponsorship board. It was an exhausting process as I had to make sure that everything is prepared perfectly so there wouldn't be any problems and so far, alhamdulillah, everything has been going well. I had my visa done, I secured a place to stay during the duration of my studies, all the documents were sent at the end of last week. But preparing all of these took a toll on my energy and I simply don't have the energy to open my game or even open blender to work on my story. But I have been writing the scripts and all so yeah, the story is still running in the background. I did find some little time to work on poses but I worked on a few before I stopped because I was too tired hahaha.

Anyways, only a few people knew what I was working on while I was on this break. Shoutout to Miss Wheat knee and Gigi for being patient with me replying to their discord messages late everyday 😭 And thank you for giving me your emotional support and encouragement! A huge thank you to both Miss Devilled Eggs and Wheat knee for helping me in my process of applying to the Uni's from helping me brush up my English for my IELTS during one of our previous calls, and for helping me with my Piece to Camera video practice for my Uni interviews. I really, greatly, am thankful to you guys for that. And to Wheat knee, thank you for believing in me when I was overthinking stuff thinking I wouldn't get the offers sfkhskl I really appreciate you for that 😢

And with that, I would like to update you guys that my posting time will be changing as I will be moving to London for my studies. So my timezone will no longer be GMT+8 :') It will be GMT+1 as of September 28th. Aside from that, my postings won't be regular too, I'll be updating whenever I can as I'll probably be busy with my studies and all. So, wish me luck! I'm a bit anxious about this so I hope I'll do well :')

Thank you to all my readers who are still there for me since day 1, you all are the best! And sorry that the story will take a while to be completed, I'll try my best to still work on it bcs I love it too much to just leave it like that 😭

That's all I guess! Thank you again for reading this if you are reading it lol.

Love,

Nina ❤

[seaside-godzilla]

Kenta kept following his granpa, making sure to not make a noise or being seen, but then something or someone bumped into him. The boy got scared for a moment but he kept his mouth closed, when he turned around he was quite surpreised of what, or better, WHO he saw...

It was a girl! A young girl of his age it seemed! The two looked at eachother in an akward way for a second before they showed any visible reaction.

"A boy?!"

The girl said, quite surprised as much as Kenta was.

"A girl?!"

Said the boy. The two realized just a moment later that they spoke louddly, so they shut their mouth and checked the situation, nobody heared them thankfully.

"What are you doin out here in the middle of the night?"

The girl asked with a curious and still surprised expression on her face.

"I, well... I was following my grandpa. I was bored and he told me he was goin to bring fish to some poor people but he didn't want me to help me. So..."

But before he said anything else, the girl looked at him with a very confused face.

"Poor people? There are no poor people here. You can see some hungry stray cats at best." The girl said.

"What?? So grandpa Koji lied to me?!" The shouted, but then lowered down his voice again.

"Oh so your grandpa is the old Koji? He's kinda of a big deal here! So you must be Kenta!" The girl said, she seemed quite excited all of the sudden.

"You know my name?!"

The boy said, quite surprised by that.

"And why's my grandpa so important here??" Kenta asked, quite surprised.

"Well, i'm not sure. My dad says he was a great sailor and he does important things for the village, but surley he dosen't bring food to other people. Oh by the way, my name is Momo!"

The girl grabbed Kenta's right hand and shaked it vigorously.

"M-my pleasure." The boy said, after freeing his hand from the girl, she had a very strong grip.

"So... Momo, right? If there are no poor people here... Then where's granpa bringin all that food?"

He asked.

"Oh that's what i wanna find out too! My parents do the same thing every night, just like all the adults in the village! I was following them as well, but then i took another direction and i bumped into you."

She said.

"So... You have no idea about what they do with all that stuff?" Kenta asked.

"Well, maybe, but it's just a rumor i heard from some of the elders..."

Momo said, taking a moment to clear her voice.

"You see, it seems like that a god lives in the cavern inside the cliffs! Sometimes you can hear roars coming from there, while everybody told me that's just the sound of the wind goin through the cave, the elders said that's the voice of the god, asking for food! And if they don't bring it to him, he'll unleash his fury on the village!"

Momo told the story with a ghostly tone. At the beginning Kenta looked sceptical, but as soon as the girl finished her story, the two heard that noise, that roar from far away, while the wind blew.

"A-a god? Are you serious?"

Kenta asked, with a shaking voice.

"That's what they say, and if that's true i wanna see it with my own eyes! I bet you wanna see it too!" The girl said to the boy, and while a bit scared, Kenta couldn't negate his curiosity.

"Alright then, let's work together Momo."

He said with a more secure expression on his face. The girl nodded and the two moved again, following the small crowd.

The kids hid behind some wooden crates, while the crowd slowly waked to the cliffs.

Kenta saw the cliffs from the distance while he was travelling to get to the village, but now, expecially after Momo's story, they looked way more threatening. The boy wondered what really was inside that huge rock...

TO BE CONTINUED...

P.S.

I changed the coloring style to be able to color the panles faster, as you can see in fact i poster two extra panes compared to the other two posts, what do you think? Do you like it?

[wisp-of-chaos]

OC Kiss Week 2024 - Day 1

GUYS ITS HAPPENING! OC Kiss Week is upon us!!!

This is the very first event of the sort I ever participated in and damn have I been excited for this!!! This was a challenging but amazing experience and I'm happy and content with how my little snippets turned out!

I decided to stick to the prompt list and worked through all of them while trying not to breach the 1k words mark too much.

My sumbmissions to the event may be a little controversal however, since I decided to have two Illithid OC's (one of my own and another one borrowed from a dear friend who gave me their approval and blessings lol) kiss, who are a race of aberrations from the DnD universe and don't have any actual or functioning mouths which added a little more challenge to this event! Instead of a traditional kiss, I settled on headbutts for them because I think that's equally cute and less utilized as a show of affection. Especially in a romantic setting.

All my OC Kiss Week prompt pieces are set in the Squidlings AU (a thing a few friends and myself came up with) which is a asian themed setting and has my own OC as a single father of two little troublemakers. He is packed to the brim with trauma and issues and trying to sort through all that and battle his dark past while rising them and trying not to fall for this awfully nice stranger.

With that being said, enjoy my very first entry for the OC Kiss Week under the cut (for ease of scrolling) or over here on Ao3!

Also a huge shoutout to @unaarista and @sumi-sprite who helped create this wonderful AU!

Day 1 - Almost

Eating breakfast with Larik quickly became a habit.

… and then lunch. And then dinner.

Both Coal and Omeluum insisted on his presence or they would refuse to east anything, no matter what Vlassk tried to convince them otherwise.

Omeluum would start to cry and Coal throw a tantrum, resulting in their brain slices ending up everywhere but their stomachs. And in the end, Vlassk had to give in. It was annoying at first, all of his muscles and limbs bristling and tense and his eye watching Larik very closely while in the vicinity of his kids but with time, things changed.

Larik wasn’t a threat. Neither to his kids nor him and soon enough, Vlassk found himself relaxed and calm whenever the much taller illithid entered the room. And was even looking forward to meeting him – not that he would ever admit that, though.

It was during one of their collaborative dinners, when it happened.

Vlassk was busy feeding Omeluum while shooting side glances at Larik – who was handling the much squirmier and stubborn Coal – now and then to make sure all was in order and going well.

His treacherous little heart fluttered at the sight of his child in Larik’s arms and how careful he was with him. His tentacles formed a solid sling that cradled Coal to his chest while one arm was securely wrapped around his small body for extra support and to keep him somewhat under control and from climbing up his shoulders and onto his head.

Coal grabbed for his face and giggled while Larik cooed and purred and carefully fed him.

Vlassk felt the tips of his tentacles tingling and his eyes growing soft and almost sighed. He was startled by that small sound trying to escape his throat and gave a quick shake of his head before brushing that odd feeling inside his chest aside and going back to feeding Omeluum.

The process of giving his twins their food was far easier and quicker with Larik’s assistance than when he had done it all on his own, and Vlassk couldn't help but be grateful for that. A little bit, at least.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t manage on his own but with Larik things certainly seemed easier. Especially since Mar’reen had their own things and duties to attend to and rarely had time for helping him with such mundane things nowadays.

Another thing that Vlassk would never admit out loud, but which was nevertheless true was that me missed Mar’reen and their attention. They had been the first person to show genuine care and concern and worry for him and it had been all too easy to get addicted to it. And now that they weren't solely responsible for his well being and that of his children anymore, they had other patients to tend to.

This time, Vlassk didn’t mind the sigh escaping him. It was a small, tired sound; like the gray haze clouding over his thoughts, but easily breached and brushed aside when Omeluum’s mind nudged at his own and the little squidling made an inquiring chirp and tilted its head in confusion.

Vlassk blinked, then chuckled and leaned down to nuzzle the small face. He sent a wave of reassuring fondness, inlaid with the mental message of “Everything is alright. No worries, my dear” to the small, still developing mind twining and mingling with his own and saw Omeluum’s face changing back to a relaxed state.

Its big, bright eyes softened and grew heavy with exhaustion as its tentacles wriggled and knotted into each other. Vlassk chuckled and purred at the cute display and felt a small hand grasping for his face but missing and settling for a tentacle instead.

Adorable, he thought with another controlled burst of affection and care as he pulled the little one tighter against his chest. And then, he felt a change in Coal’s and Larik’s minds.

Coal’s thoughts halted for a mere second before lighting up with an idea which sparked a rush of curious determination. Larik made a noise of surprise and then- …

“Ow!”

Vlassk winced when he felt a spike of pain from Larik and lifted his head off of Omeluum and turned to look what his little troublemaker of a son had done this time.

Larik’s eyes were squinted and his shoulders tense and still as he held onto Coal with one hand and a spoon with the other while said kid tightly held onto one of his tentacles and chewed on it.

Vlassk couldn’t help but snort. Coal really didn’t seem to grow out of that habit, no matter what they tried to tell him that – more often than not – it was rather dangerous to shove something into his mouth.

He mentally reached out for Larik’s mind and skimmed over the outer edges to asses the damage his son was doing and was relieved to find that it was barely more than a pesky nibble. Still, it was bad manners and downright rude to chew on someone else and Vlassk had to do something about it.

Rising from his seat, Vlassk moved closer to them and adjusted his hold on Omeluum to free one of his tentacles.

“Now, now”, he cooed at Coal as he patted his head with said tentacle and carefully reached for Larik’s trapped limb. “Uncle Larik may look tasty but he’s not here to be eaten, Coal.”

He felt a snicker from Coal and a jolt of surprise from Larik but paid neither much mind as he gently pried the tentacle out of Coal’s grasp and mouth. The little squidling resisted for a bit and tightened his little hands but Vlassk’s tentacle on his head slid down to his back and rubbed encouraging circles around his spine.

“Uncle Larik may refuse to eat with us again if he’s the one on the menu”, Vlassk tried again with words and that finally did it. He felt recognition and understanding from Coal and the barest hint of regret before his hands unfurled and let go of Larik’s tentacle and allowed it to slip out of his mouth.

Vlassk purred and gave him a few more head pats. “Such a good squidling”, he cooed and nudged his tiny mind with warm, proud approval which had Coal blinking and squirming and giggling.

When he lifted his head to make sure Larik was fine and to apologize for Coal’s behavior however, he was surprised by the blank, dreamy look in his eyes and the fuzzy state of his mind.

Vlassk blinked and slowly waved a tentacle in front of his face. “Larik?”, he tentatively asked, wondering if Coal accidentally had pierced skin and damaged some nerves. “Are you-”

He yelped when his tentacle suddenly – and without warning – was grabbed and held. Vlassk flinched and tried to recoil and get away but the hold on his limb was too firm to have it budge and slip free.

His breathing quickened and his heart pounded against his chest as his mind began to race and swirl and boil with emotions and resurfacing memories but before anything serious could happen, Larik’s hold on him loosened. It didn’t vanish completely but at least Vlassk didn’t feel trapped anymore and his anxiety began to calm down again.

He forced himself to breathe deep and evenly. This is fine, he reminded himself. He was free and safe and this wasn’t him. This was Larik, whom he had meet barely a month ago and who had so cheekily stolen his kinds hearts and now had the audacity to touch him without a warning or asking first!

Vlassk’s mind bristled and sizzled and he grimaced as his tentacles quivered angrily. He was about to slap and snap at Larik when he blinked and his eyes changed. Focus returned to them, along with something else – something, that had Vlassk’s breath hitching and his heart stuttering.

He was stunned by that peculiar look in his amber eyes and couldn’t find the strength in him to look away as the tentacle on his own softly caressed it and send a shiver down his spine. Something in the back of his mind tingled.

He watched with widening eyes and fluttering heart when Larik moved; leaned closer and tilted his head as if to rest it against Vlassk’s and a jolt of excited surprise raced through his veins and lit them ablaze.

Vlassk didn’t know what was happening but it felt important – special – and he didn’t dare to interrupt as Larik came closer. Inch by inch and at an agonizingly slow pace as if waiting for Vlassk to pull back and retreat.

He didn’t. He watched and waited and allowed whatever Larik was doing; his throat running dry and his mind tightening and tensing until it felt as if it was about to snap. And then …

… then the door flew open and Mar’reen entered the room and just as unexpected and sudden as that weird moment between Vlassk and Larik had started, it ended.

Both of them made a small noise and jumped apart. Vlassk felt his face heating and paling while he sensed a similar reaction from Larik's mind, mixed with guilt and a touch of sad regret.

Mar’reen’s thoughts however, were sharp and suspicious and smug as they asked: “Did I interrupt something?”

The squidlings squealed and giggled.

[duckprintspress]

What's the difference between catering to fanfic writers and to other kinds of writers? Or is there not much of a difference? Happy Book Publishers Day BTW.

Hey anon!

Ah, I'm so excited that you decided to send in a question for Book Publishers Day! I delayed answering for a few days so I could really think about the answer, and now here we are. :D

Tentatively, I'd say that there's not a huge difference between catering to fanfic writers and catering to other kinds of writers, but there are a few. I'd say the biggest differences aren't specifically in "how we cater to authors" so much as "how we've envisioned and structured the whole Press differently because of our collective roots in fandom." Here's some of the biggest differences that strike us, starting with those that are more narrowly about catering to the different types of writers, then getting a bit more general.

Privacy/safety concerns. While of course everyone worries about their privacy and maintaining data security is critical when dealing with contractors, employees, etc., it's something we especially emphasize when working with fanfic writers for two primary reasons. First, a lot of fanfic writers don't want people who know them in meatspace to become aware that they write fanfic, given the stigma against it in some communities. Second, a lot of fanfic writers are queer and they aren't necessarily out in all their circles. Thus, we put a lot of extra effort into ensuring that people who work with us can keep their "fandom self" separate from their "meatspace self," if they want to. I'd estimate roughly half of our authors opt to keep their various "selves" completely separate, and we work to be very public about the steps we take to protect our authors and the guarantees we have in place that we won't "out" anyone in anyway - that we'll do everything in our power to protect them.

Publishing education. While plenty of the authors we've worked with have been interested in publishing for a while, and a noticeable minority have published their original work with other Presses, a lot of our authors have always seen publishing their original stories as more of a "someday" and aren't familiar with the processes of what happens after the stories are written. So, we put a lot of effort into process-related transparency and answering questions to ensure that writers know what to expect. For example, we make blank versions of all our contracts public so that people who are considering working with us have plenty of time to read them, research standard contracts, and decide for themselves if they think our terms are favorable. We want people to know what they're getting into and to feel comfortable before they commit, and to feel comfortable walking away if that's better for them.

Unconventional publishing models. That said, we're also rather outside the mold for publishers, because only a few of the folks in our upper echelons have a background in more traditional publishing and/or medium/small Press publishing. I, the owner, have flirted at the edges of the more mainstream publishing industry but while I know a lot of people in trad pub and indy pub, I haven't worked in it myself nor have I been traditionally published. Thus, we definitely have had a learning curve ourselves, and it also a lot of our internal structure and approaches are specifically, explicitly designed around fandom models instead of around more standard Press models. For example, we wholesale adopted a zine approach to anthology production and publishing - we select creators and give them freedom to create within the parameters of the anthology theme, then help them with editing, instead of asking for completed stories that we sift through and pick our favorites. For another example, our approaches to tagging and cataloging stories and our interest in breaking out of industry-standard rigidly defined genres are also deeply rooted in our experiences as fans and fancreators in fandom spaces. Basically, in the same way that we approach writers who are fanwriters first, original writers second, we ourselves were all fandom people first, publishers second. and our methodologies grew out of our experiences as forum moderators, fandom event creators and runners, zine editors, etc.

Community spaces. Again, because we're looking at more of a fandom-based model transplanted onto a publishing milieu, we're very oriented on building a community and relationships. Our Discord is quite active, and we talk about our lives, about our projects, help each other out with research and betaing, etc. To be honest, I don't know if that's different from other Presses, but I at least strongly suspect it's well outside what trad pub does.

Transparency. In the end, we view Duck Prints Press as a collaboration, as something we're growing together with writers, editors, artists, graphic designers, etc., where all of us have been active in fandoms first. Toward that end, general transparency about our decision making, processes, and plans is important to us, and we work hard to make sure that people involved in the Press know what's going on. We hold monthly meetings to which everyone involved in the Press is invited (our next one is this Tuesday!) where we talk candidly, openly, and honestly about our progress on current projects, any set backs we've encountered, and how we're doing fiscally. In the same way that, if I'm involved in a zine, I'd expect the people running it to talk about the money earned, where profits are going, if there's been an issue with production, if someone's life going haywire has introduced delays, etc. That's the level of openness we aim for.

Education. This is an area where we're still expanding, but we've so far offered two classes to people involved in the Press on grammar and editing stuff. The idea is, a lot of people who write fanfic aren't "trained" authors, and we often don't know the rules, just "what sounds right." And, that's fine, that's why we have editors! But if people want to learn more, we're striving to provide more opportunities for that. Related, we're extremely, and atypically, transparent about our selection processes for people who apply to anthologies. We are not and will never be a black box where submission stories come in and acceptance and rejection letters go out. Not only do we use a rating rubric that's available publicly, we also share completed rubrics with authors upon request. We want people who are interested in learning and improving to see our notes and to have the chance to ask questions. We want to support people who are aiming to improve. And, flipside, we don't automatically send those rubrics out to applicants because we wholeheartedly subscribe to the fandom-standard attitude that concrit is only helpful when it's asked for. If someone doesn't want more information, doesn't want to improve (because improvement NEVER has to be one's goal as a writer, especially for fanwriters doing fic for fun!), we don't force that feedback on anyone! So, so many of our structures are based on fandom models, are grounded in fandom ethos.

Relaxed restrictions. All of the people who run the business are queer (I'm aroace genderfluid, myself), and most us are neurodivergent (my diagnoses are ADHD and clinical depression), and some of us are disabled (my wife, for example, is an ambulatory wheelchair user, though she's not heavily involved in the management team...right now she's anonymizing the submissions to Aether Beyond the Binary), and many of us are parents (I have two kids, aged almost 5 and almost 7). I've been active in online fandoms for more than 20 years, and the people in my fandom circles have overwhelming shared the above characteristics. Most are queer. Most are neurodivergent. Many struggle with health issues and disability. Many are parents, have multiple jobs, are caring for parents, are supporting their partners, are facing a multitude of meatspace challenges that make working in a traditional publication model difficult or impossible. In a lot of publishing, things like really struggling with deadlines, or having to navigate the potential for unexpected health flareups, or juggling multiple jobs, or working around a child's schedule, would be dealbreakers - the deadline is the deadline, meet it or get out. That's...so not us. We strive to create an environment with the flexibility to meet people where they are, where having life go sideways (cause let's be real, life always goes sideways sooner or later) doesn't disqualify someone from breaking into the industry. As long creators communicate with us about their hurdles, we are very free about giving extensions, making exceptions, tweaking schedules, etc. We don't want anyone hurting themselves just for a story. Yes, it can make management more challenging at times, but we always look to grant the same grace that we hope to be given when our own lives get complicated. (2022 has been a huge example of this, as my health issues resulted in my needing surgery last February and it completely disrupted all our project timelines for the year - we've really only just caught up in the last month or so).

Setting expectations. We aim to set realistic expectations with authors who write with us. My own sense of other models is that most publishers promise success without necessarily delving into things like "but you'll have to handle all your own marketing" or "this is how many copies you can honestly expect to sell." Authors can often be in for a rude awakening once they're in the door and contracted and would be hard-pressed to back out. We're very small, and we operate on a shoe-string budget (I have been operating Duck Prints Press for just over two years and we've never yet earned enough for me to take a paycheck, and we're in the red for both of our first two years, though our 2022 numbers are a significant improvement over 2021 and we have every reason to hope we'll keep growing). We can't afford a lot of advertising, can't be the only source of marketing, can't promise that people will sell lots of copies (full disclosure re: what that means, our average short story sells under 10 copies during the first week it's released). We can't promise anyone a livable paycheck. What we offer instead is community, support, creative freedom, understanding, and the chance to be part of a fan-run business that is slowly but surely growing, and growing amazingly. No editor will ever say "you have to change xyz so your story will sell." No editor will ever say, "we just don't want that story." We want to publish what our writers want to publish, and we want to work all together to help grow all our audiences. And that means, for people involved right now while we're this young, we can't promise much, but we can promise one wonderful thing: that the future looks bright.

This went a bit beyond "working with fanfiction writers versus trad pub writers" and more into "ways we approach things differently than a more mainstream Press," but I think that does tie into how the approach is different. We're not viewing the Press as The Owner And Managers Who Are Always Above and the writers as The Content Creators And Cash Cows. All of us in the management team are also fandom people, fanwriters, fanartists, etc. It's not two distinct groups, it's one big group of more-or-less equals (yes, there's still a hierarchy, there has to be some, but it's not super top-down and there's lots of opportunities for people to share their skills up the not-really-a-ladder) with the doors thrown wide open to welcome in more folks.

And that, I think, is the crux of the difference of how we cater to fanfic authors compared to what we might do differently if we were working with a more mainstream set of authors. While we do maintain certain editorial standards and we obviously don't accept everyone who applies, we still try to cast a wide net, to opt for inclusion over exclusion, to try to make allowances, to make space for people at different levels, with different experiences, with different life challenges, etc. In the end, I'd love everyone who ever applies to work with us to end up as part of the Press, because if people want to work with us, we want to work with them! There's no way to just bring in everyone at once, and some people need to hone their skills more before they'll be ready to meet the writing standards we aim for, but it's nothing that can't be learned. And, if people want to learn it, we want to help them learn it.

We're a publisher, yes, but we're also a community of fanwriters who all dream of being published, helping each other to make that dream a reality.

This was probably a ton more answer than was really necessary, but here we are. :D Thanks for asking, anon, and I hope you found the answer informative!

(I'm @unforth, by the way, it occurs to me a lot of people may not realize that.)