#but also just in general in the community

[7frogsspeaks]

"Generative AI" is also vague to the point of being meaningless. Plenty of helpful and ethical AI programs generate words or imagery (for example, the "smart fill" tool in photoshop), and even programs like the ones being pushed onto everyone are being used to develop new ways to do things like predict cancer or create new pharmaceutical compounds. Even ChatGPT itself is used by people with degenerative motor conditions to let them still communicate in full sentences in their own voice (both written and spoken!) when they input keywords with a button.

All AI is morally neutral and potentially beneficial technology. You just hate unethical and obnoxious AI programs and the way it's being unnecessarily added to everyday life.

[raelemond]

Hi. I was wondering if you could point me to resources or forums that’ll help me explore kink. I’ve been holding myself back for a long time and now I don’t even know where to start or how to find community

hi anon, sorry it took so long for me to respond, I've been traveling!

there are a few things you can do. I'll start with what i did, but this is going to vary by country and location. I recommend you start by making a fetlife profile. fetlife is basically kinky facebook, but you don't have to put any information you don't want to on it - I'd just recommend not using a picture of your genitals as your profile picture, those tend to get autobanned from groups.

then, go look for "events" and filter by location - try nearby cities if your area doesn't turn up at first. what you really want is a "munch", which is going to be a group meeting in a public space for kinky people to mingle. you can also filter by education, but I recommend munches first, just to meet people so you can get an idea of what the community is like.

depending on your city, munches can differ by age (35 and under is typically called TNG/The Next Generation - I personally dislike what they stand for, but it's an option depending on your age), interests, gender/sexuality, and location. some are free, some ask you to purchase food from the venue, some ask for donations, and some cost money. the majority take place at bars, which can be an obstacle.

as someone new coming in, particularly if you're young and/or seem to be a woman at first glance, you might get a lot of attention. I'll just suggest that you do NOT play alone with anyone immediately, and people trying to encourage you to stay isolated from the community is a bad sign. anyone trying to say their way is the One True Way is a bad sign.

I played with someone at my first party, which I had been invited to via the munch. At the party, there were DMs who could help if anything went bad.

if searching like this doesn't get you results, I'd suggest going to a local sex toy store, or other adult store, and ask about local kink communities, if any exist. unfortunately my kinky student from Brazil stopped coming in, or I'd ask how to find a community there because she said it's much harder to find people.

I'd also think about what you're interested in and what your limits are. when I first showed up at 18, I freaked people out by saying "I'm up for anything" - in my head, that meant I was interested in discussing most things, or dipping a toe in, but I didn't know how deep kink could go. The boundaries of "anything" were spanking, flogging, and caning for me, along with D/s stuff I barely understood. so, to avoid my mistake, I definitely recommend having some specific things you want to try and ask questions about.

before the lacigreen weirdness happened, she was a really competent sex educator (if not the best for medical advice) so I'm going to point you to this video for a really brief overview. the only thing she gets wrong is that she misses one of the words in BDSM - it's an acronym that stands for six words: bondage, discipline, Dominance/submission, sadism, masochism.

the words kink and bdsm are often used interchangeably, and they mostly are, but you can be into kink without being into D/s, for example.

please feel free to send more specific questions if you want!

[batboopp]

I wonder if it wasn’t just general disinterest  that kept Cass from writing (as she signaled to Barbara with her “blah blah blah” hand gesture)

i mean, I really do love the story where Cass wants to learn how to write during Batgirl 2000 issue 2 after learning that writing CAN, in some instances, carry meaning and be important in communication. But rereading Mark of Cain part 1, when it was revealed David made her kill Faizul, he struggles to write something in his dying moments, whether he was really thinking about it or not.

I wonder if she always carried the memory that writing = pain of some sort—up until Batgirl 2000 issue 2, where Cass experienced John’s wife being comforted by his letter after she was unable to prevent his death. 

I also do wonder if she wanted to learn how to write a sort of “goodbye” letter LIKE John‘s as well, so Barbara and the others would at least be comforted (I.e John‘s wife being comforted by his letter in issue #2) if she ever DID die, as she knew and understood the lengths her self-sacrificing tendencies went to better than most everyone else. 

[myokk]

I was just thinking how easy it is to get discouraged from writing and continuing fics. I don’t know if it’s this fandom in general that’s like this, or if many are but 🥲

When I started posting my fic a little over a year ago, I spent six months without getting a single comment. The views kept going up, I had subscriptions, bookmarks, a few kudos, but absolutely nobody took the time to let me know if they liked where my story was going or that they were excited for an update. Nothing. I really love the story I’ve come up with, and I think I’m going to see this thing through because finishing it would be something I’m so proud of, but I write it just for myself honestly.

I feel like fanfic is one of the only spaces where you can directly communicate with an author, let them know what you think of their writing, and it feels a lot like I am just presenting my works to invisible people. Ive had people tell me they loved a oneshot of mine, or my fic, were rereading it, and I was just SHOCKED bc they had never commented on it, liked it, left a kudos…

Nobody has ever really talked to me about being excited about my fic, telling me their theories on what they think might happen, and idk it just feels so lonely to me (im not talking about the art side of things at all lol). Maybe it’s a reciprocal thing…I try to comment and reblog and read thing when I have the time, but my tbr keeps growing and im such a slow reader bc i spend so much time writing the comments i leave😭 and my writing updates get slower bc I feel like I’m just writing it for myself.

Btw this isn’t me begging for comments or interaction, it’s just feelings I’ve been having and I wonder if it’s normal to just like. Not get any engagement or interaction whatsoever on my writing even though the views keep going up a lot. I just share my story and my art bc I love talking with you all, connecting…I try my hardest to spread the love and give more visibility to the stories I love and cool things I come across♥️ and I also understand being shy and I NEVER expect comments😭 they’re always just a surprising and amazing bonus, but when I don’t get ANY I start to wonder what I’m doing🫠

[beafarm]

There are scholars who i know who are writing their thesis with AI and boasting about how easy it is. There are teachers and scholars who believe that ai is not only useful but at this point a staple in teaching and academia and as a young academic i abhore what this community has also done to itself. Y'all can call me elitist or whatnot, i do not give a shit. What i give a shit is about the loss of integrity in academia. As a person who pours their blood, sweat and tears to producing their own papers without the help of AI i think it's both unfair and DANGEROUS. The people i see around me who use AI are actively discrediting their university education saying it's all bullshit while failing to learn vital skills like reading comprehension and those people want to be TEACHERS. The future the advent of AI will bring is not that of progress but of fascism. The blatant refusal to think critically and opt for convenience rather than hard labour will be not only the downfall of academia as a whole but a downfall of humanity in general. I'm not saying this to be an alarmist, of course there is hope and people are actively fighting against inclusion of AI even if it's just refusing to use it. I believe that we can still educate future generations on this and the dangers of it. There will be always people who are fighting for humanity, there will be always people trying to make this world a better place or at least to keep us from regression. What we need to do, is not to get disencouraged because that's how they win. They win by wearing us out but do not let yourself fall into defeatism. That's how we can all resist.

[strawberryraviegutz]

Part of me starting to have second thoughts about sinners. Not the movie itself but more or so the fandom…

From ppl completely disregarding and ignoring the movie’s themes about racism, to ppl watering down Remmick through a black and white lens either comparing him to the Klan(even tho the Klan hated Irish ppl back then)or saying that he did nothing wrong and uplifting him more than the black cast(apparently it was confirmed by someone who worked on the movie that Remmick isn’t racist. I forgot his name tho), along with ppl going after others for…finding a VAMPIRE VILLAIN hot??(and or anyone talking about Remmick in a positive light in general.)

I literally just saw the film yesterday and I’m already being put off by the way a lot of yall are acting.

While what Remmick did was certainly by no means any better than what the very oppressors he hates are doing(cuz at the same time he did sorta use his whiteness to his advantage when tricking those 2 klan members into letting him in), I think it’s just disingenuous to ignore what exactly LED HIM to that mindset which was the Catholics colonizing his home along with forcing Ireland’s ppl into famine.

Like I just dont get it…For as long as vampires and villains have been super popular and beloved in media for decades and even centuries , how are yall gonna act super surprised when ppl find a hot villain vampire character attractive/appealing??

Plus I thought it was common sense then ppl can like villains but not agree with their actions. No one here thinks that Remmick was in the right by forcing other black ppl against their will into assimilation into vampires(at least I hope not).

And again assuming it’s only white ppl who find him hot(which isn’t even inherently a bad thing. It depends on the context) and writing smut of him while completely ignoring/erasing all the black women/afabs and or black ppl in general who are thirsting for Remmick in the tags along with telling ppl to die over shipping Remmick with ppl…and also thinking that there’s only Remmick x reader fics when…no?? There’s A LOT of other x reader fics with the twins(smoke especially), Bo Chow, Annie, the twins, Sammie, and Mary within the tags.(also can we NOT call Remmick’s actor ugly please? That’s just flat out mean.). Speaking of which the way yall are treating Mary and Annie is just deplorable..

I literally had someone comment on my last post related to the shipping of Remmick and Sammie and I couldn’t even respond to them cuz they blocked me??(idk how to feel about the ship but I’m not gonna get onto other ppl for liking it since they’re both adults from what I can tell and as long as they aren’t erasing or ignoring the themes/message of the movie)

How are u gonna comment on my post and then block me when I was just trying to further explain my opinion that you had no intention of listening to in the first place??

According to these ppl I guess I must hate my own race now for thinking that Remmick is hot/sar

Way to make ur own ppl feel isolated from their own community as if that doesn’t also go against the message of Sinners at all../sar

[meanbossart]

Some more asks about Izzantar and Grodderick!

Some general Insight about their relationship can be found here, the two paragraphs below concerning their dynamic specifically:

Grodderick and Izzantar are, in a lot of ways I suppose, the opposite of DU Drow and Astarion; bedroom habits included. While the protagonists of this blog have no particular dynamic that they stick to, the latter have roles that they feel most comfortable in and rarely abandon them, which is also perfectly okay.

Izzantar likes to be taken care of in bed. He prefers a partner who takes responsibility into their own hands and do what they want, when they want it. If he's unhappy with something, he will voice that discontentment; but he will be the unhappiest if you constantly seek his approval or guidance to do everything. As a male drow who was popular with the matrons, this is probably a dynamic he grew used to and feels at home with. If he's bedding with you, his body is already yours and you can do with it what you will. He also bottoms 100% of the time and is pretty indifferent to the involvement of his own genitalia in the endeavor, and the more time he spends away from drow and the Underdark, the more he settles on taking care of that part of the exchange himself.

Grodderick as a man is pretty malleable, but he fits into Izzantar's preferences fairly well as someone who is very confident in bed, and will happily take the wheel. Ironically, while Izzantar perceives himself as being extremely easy to please, Grodderick thinks otherwise - the drow expects a lot of particular behaviors out of the half-orc without actually voicing those preferences beforehand, like the taking of absolute control, apparent disregard for his own pleasure and overly rough play. Like I said, Grodderick is confident - but he's not an arrogant asshole or somehow unaware that he has at least 200 pounds on the drow.

But through communication everything is possible and the two do reach a kind of middle ground. By the time they're married, Izzantar is a much softer, less demanding person, and Grodderick has grown to understand that his requests for egoism are very much still for his pleasure and comfort.

Game Izzantar came after the creation of the character, and by then I did already have a voice-claim in mind (Thomas Brodie-Sangster! After puberty, obviously.) I picked BG3's Voice 1 for him which honestly I find quite similar LOL so either one works!

He does! VERY rarely, however. He usually looks either completely stoic or a little pissed off, but a little 😏 isn't so rare. He also laughs, believe it or not. That said, big ol' earnest smiles are indeed rare, and probably something he reserves for private moments. It's not really a response to his negative life experiences as much as just a personal quirk - he has a minor facial tick and I think being overly aware of his facial expressions became a habit because of it.

I might change this in the future, but at least as of right now he never takes any steps to change his physicality nor does he ever see what he is doing as "changing" anything in the first place, if that makes sense. He presents female, his husband calls him wife, people assume that he's a woman and are never told otherwise. In regards to his voice, he speaks a little softer in public but mostly I just like to think that voice pitch wouldn't be particularly demonstrative of sex or gender in Faerun.

[interstellarsystem]

Periodic reminder that "alterhuman" means a lot more than "nonhuman", "therian", "otherkin", "fictionkin" and all of those combined.

Alterhumanity is simply the state of not falling within your "societal norm" for humanity or what is considered the "normal human experience". That sounds maybe vague and broad, and that's because it absolutely is.

Is being otherkin or therian alterhuman? Sure! You're also more than welcome in the community. But if you're looking for a term to refer to otherkin, therians, and other people who identify as nonhuman? Well--just say nonhuman!

When writing something addressed to "alterhumans", be it a bunch of questions, or an experience post, or a survey, it should be addressed to alterhumans, not tailored to one specific group. Only explicitly talking about the therian or otherkin experience within an article or questionaire or similar things lends us to wonder why those aren't just labelled as therian/otherkin/nonhuman. That doesn't mean those groups don't belong in alterhuman spaces or tags either--this is simply a nitpick at how things are worded and seem to be sometimes misinformed about what alterhumanity is.

Alterhumanity includes (but isn't limited to):

Otherkin, therians, nonhuman headmates, nonhumans in general

Fictionfolk, fictives, fictionkin--including those who identify as human fictional characters.

Factfolk, factives, factkin.

Otherlinkers and other voluntary identities.

Otherhearteds and people with synpaths and/or hearthomes.

Plural systems of all origins--created, disordered, nondisordered, anything else.

Furry lifestylers.

Delusion-based and other neurodivergent and/or disability related identities, largely relating to the above points (such as clinical lycanthropes, systems due to psychosis, etc)

A lot of the above can absolutely include human identifying individuals (or systems). You do not need to be nonhuman at all to be alterhuman. You also don't need to "pick" one or the other--you might be both, or aspecies, or something else entirely. Humans can be included under the alterhuman umbrella, alterhumanity isn't the same thing as nonhumanity.

We've seen the claim that it's dehumanising (not to an individual's own tastes by the way, this was stated as an overall community fact) to be included under the alterhuman label, so more identites that include humans or are human-based need to be "written out". That is alterhumisia as well as nonhumisia and paints alterhumanity as an inherently dehumanising identity. You don't have to use any terms you don't like, but dehumanisation, alterhumanity and nonhumanity are all separate things.

Alterhumanity is as mentioned, having an identity that's alternative to the "societal norm".

Nonhumanity is identifying or the state of being nonhuman.

Dehumanisation is the act of treating a person/group as "less than" human. It is a form of discrimination revolving around the idea that you can even be "less than", and therefore are able to be treated without dignity, moral consideration and empathy. It's the denial of someone's human rights. (Attempt at summing up without going on for 5 paragraphs, please forgive strange phrasing).

Don't confuse them. They are different things. You might not like being referred to as alterhuman or nonhuman, and that's your right! But others including communities you happen to be a part of under that term doesn't strip you of the right to not take on the label itself, nor does it deny you your humanity in any way. You can opt out. Others opting in or being defined in from the start isn't dehumanisation.

And on a quick side note, we also noticed a distinct push to exclude systems from the alterhuman label in recent times or to say they never should have been included. While no one has to use the label if they don't feel it fits--you have to at least acknowledge that plurals were defined in from the beginning and many systems find the term useful and define themselves as alterhuman on the basis of their plurality alone. No one is forcing a label on anyone, but please don't leave systems out of your discussions of alterhumanity by default. Non-alterhuman systems don't need to participate in the community, and alterhuman systems don't need to be defined out of a term that had them in mind at its coining.

The coining post is linked here, for all who would like to read it. We know not everyone has, and we also know terms change over time of course--but the broadness is a huge point of the term itself. Don't make the box smaller. That's the overall point of this post.

[chuki7861]

these religions also dont change so long as the people willing to be the change are bullied for trying. Christianity has been a weapon of many world powers against the very people the religion is suppose to serve and that weaponization has become intrinsic. just as that change occured over near 2 millenia, we can push back and return the faith to its original purpose. we cant do this without support from our non-religious communities. it will be a project spanning a hundred generations, we wont see it complete in our lifetimes but i will do my part.

Whenever I see a queer invalidate another queer's relationship with god, I just get disappointed. "We need more complex queers!" You can't even handle religious queer people.

[twstfanblog]

*~Mafia AU~* pt.1

A/N: I know I said I was gonna focus on the Manhwa AU, but this story has been burning a hole in my frontal lobe for actual weeks. So you're getting this first! This is actually a bit of a collab project with @cardsweetheart. She's been consumed the second I mentioned the AU and has been making Pinterest moodboards and playlists are on the way too! If you'd like to be added to the taglist for this story, just let me know in the notes or by dm. Enjoy! Pairings: Alluded Crowley/Crewel (They're already divorced) WordCount: 2.1K Warnings: Aggravated Assault, Gun Mention, Breaking and Entering

Being a waitress wasn't the best job Yuu thought she could get. It was also far from the idle life her parents would have expected for her. But, the tips from the snobbishly upscale bistro helped her pay for her college courses, which was all Yuu needed them to do. So as she dragged herself up the flight of her apartment stairs, heeled foot aching and sore, she couldn't say she hated her job.

Yuu could barely find fault with her life as a whole. Of course, there were minor issues, as all existence brings. Her parents were divorced; the bitter, petty competition to see who she loved more continuing far past her elementary school days and well into her foothold on adulthood. Though both were wealthy, neither had the idea of making her a college fund. Each of them trying to get her to agree to some type of indentured servitude with parental flair. But, the city she lived in was bustling, a stream of diverse people flowing in and out as frequently as breathing. It was also filled with crime, so much crime. Like a comical amount of mafia crime. A fact so glaring that both of her dads sent money every month.

One part to bribe her into favoring them over the other, but it was mostly to give her the incentive to move to a better part of the city. Her apartment complex was old but holding strong, minor renovations over the years keeping it up to code without sacrificing its old charm. Yuu could proudly state her unit had all of its original windows still intact, she just couldn't open them more than two inches.

And while her dads would love if she lived in a new development; one with shiny appliances, maybe a community pool, and actual security measures. But, Yuu knew her complex was the safest place to live. It was nice, comfortable enough that anyone could live in its walls. But old enough that no one really wanted to deal with it. New generation mobsters always too cautious to try to stake a claim on the building, never knowing if there was someone dangerous already waiting. Peace from the mobsters meant peace for the residents, no one wanted police in such a placid ecosystem. So, no matter what time of night she managed to climb the flight of stairs, she knew that her building was a safe zone.

Or she would have if she wasn't punched across the face the second she walked into her apartment.

Yuu hit the ceramic tiles of her kitchen hard, the contents of her purse spilling out. The warmth of blood trailed down her nose and over her lip, almost burning against her fear-stricken, clammy skin. In the dark, she crawled to hide behind her small island, panic spiking at the feeling of a large hand just barely missing her ankle. As she pressed her back into open shelving as though it would hide her, Yuu listened to the intruders speak to each other in the dark.

“-didn't you shoot? She's like…I think she's hiding now.”

A second voice spoke out, the sound of something metal being fumbled in his hands, “Shut it, she's home way earlier than intel said she'd be. Plus, didn't you listen? We're supposed to have a conversation before punishment is given.”

The first man stutters lightly, “S-still, why weren't you ready?”

“Oh, like I'm gonna be around you with a loaded gun again.” The sound of metal stops, the cold click of a pistol loaded filling the silence, “Go grab her, boss only gave us one bullet. Since what happened last time.”

The first voice grumbles, walking closer and stepping on the items of her purse with no remorse. Yuu reached blindly into the shelving space, the sound of her pots and pans clanging together before she grabbed onto the handle of her small soup pot. She swings blindly, the sound of the lid flying off into the darkness as she heard the meaty ‘THUNK’ of the saucepan hitting the intruder’s knee.

“FUCK!” He falls back, the clattering of her countertop items being jostled loudly in the space. A dish falls to the ground, shattering, “My fucking knee!”

He was on her before Yuu could crawl the short distance to her bedroom door. His body heavy as a hand gripped her ponytail to painfully yank her head back. She swings again, the saucepan just barely making a second hit. She wiggles and squirms under him. Turning around under the man's straddle to fully swing at where she thought his head was. Another ‘THUNK’, the almost comedic sound over shadowed by the man slamming face first into her fridge right beside them. Magnets falling in the dark, clattering noisily on the tile.

“Juice, are you losing over there?”

“She's got a —THUNK —FUCK. She's got a pan!” He punches down, fist catching against her cheek in a brutal move that filled her mouth with a coppery taste.

“Ugh. Yeah, yeah. I'm coming to help —THUNK— SHIT!” He went down hard, the saucepan hitting him directly on his knee as Yuu started to swing the pot around wildly.

Yuu could barely get from underneath the first man, fingers fumbling wildly against the grain of their bedroom door looking for the handle.

A hand grips her ponytail again, catching more of the hair against her scalp then the free strands, pulling harshly to throw her down back to the kitchen floor.

“Fucking bitch. To hell with talking-”

Yuu braced herself, curling up and moving the pan to shield whatever vital areas it could. Instead of the deafening sound of a gun firing close range, the click of the lights blinds them.

Silence rings out in the room, Yuu slowly blinking her eyes open against the light to look around.

Standing above her was a redhead, red eyes wide as he pointed a shiny black pistol at them. He was in all black, tasteful button-up, pressed slacks, and leather gloves with a bright red heart pin clipped to his collar. He stepped back, raising his hands as though Yuu was the one with the gun, “Shit…” his gaze turned to someone behind them.

Turning around at the sound of footsteps, Yuu saw the first man and could only grimace. He was dressed the same as the redhead, a blue spade pin on his collar instead. His hair was messy, turquoise eyes edged with runny black smudges of eyeliner, one eye swelling shut and both sides of his face bruising horribly.

The spade man looked away from them, shaking his head at his partner, “This isn't Mandy.”

“No? You fucking think?” The redhead growled out in annoyance. He groaned, his free hand running down his face and smearing his eyeliner. He stepped forward, a hand reaching out to her. 

“Don't!” Yuu pulled her arms back, ready to swing the saucepan on the redhead if he came closer. 

He raised his arms again, voice shaky as he eyed the pot with distrust, “O-Ok. Enough pot swinging, my other knee won't make it…”

“Um, miss?”

Yuu whirled around, almost falling seeing the second man had stepped closer, “I will fucking-”

“Sorry.” He pulled away, hands held in front of him, both to show he was weaponless and to shield himself should she attack again. He bows his head, eyebrows pulled in remorse as he spoke, “We…we have the wrong room. We're so sorry for the rudeness we've shown you.”

Fuck. Fuck, no, please-

The redhead had stepped closer, barely containing his eye roll as he knelt beside her. His expression perfectly sliding into apologetic, “Our most sincere remorse, Dear Miss. And we've been so rough with you.” He tilts his head, his free hand reaching over to grasp her chin lightly, “A pity, as you were so pretty-”

“Ace.”

Ace glared so hard at the second man Yuu was afraid he was going to use the gun still clutched tightly in his hand. Whatever silent conversation they had made the unnamed man stand up, wordlessly walking toward her blood-spattered fridge. Ace turned back to her, a pleasant smile on his face as he semi-forcibly held her hand. He gently kissed the air over her skin, never breaking eye contact.

“On behalf of the Heartslabyul family, we offer our sincerest apologies.”

Fuck…

Ace stood, bringing her up with him. Her steps were wobbly as he led her into her own bedroom, a gentle hand burning and heavy on the small of her back. He never let the gun go, even when he guided her to sit on the edge of her bed. With his smile still set to ‘pleasant’, Ace knelt before her, like he was an adult trying to calm an overreacting child.

“Now…we've gotten off on the wrong foot, and I will take responsibility for that. But, we are looking for a young lady around your age. Would you happen to know a Mandy, Dear Miss?”

“...” Yuu could feel her hands shaking, gripping tightly to the pot handle with both hands. It was her only means of protection and attack, her nervous gaze glancing down at the still very loaded gun in Ace’s hands.

He takes notice, rolling his eyes subtly, but places the gun down. He waves his hands to show he had nothing, “May we please have a conversation now? We would like to find Mandy before the night is up.”

At her continued silence, Ace could only chuckle, “Very tight lipped, that's a good quality to have. But you must understand. We can't have liars associating with our family. Mandy's information told us she lived in this unit. But that's not true, is it? It'd do no good to have falsehoods about ourselves…”

Movement at the doorway brings Yuu's attention to the second man, half standing in the open space and giving her a stern glare. The silent warning of what could happen if she kept denying them info.

“...” Yuu sighed, looking away from Ace and the other man's eyes. Her words soft and stilted, “Mandy lives in the building still. I don't know what floor, though; we don't talk, I just got her mail for a month. Your…your info might be old. She used to live in this unit. But she moved into a newer one around last Spring?”

The info seemed to make the second man angrier than ease whatever distaste he held. Ace himself had gained an annoyed expression before he clicked back into the air of customer service.

“Thank you so much for this information, Dear Miss.”

Yuu jumps back, the second man stepping into the room and right up to her legs. Though she tried to crawl backwards on her bed, Ace grips her arm and pulls her back to the edge. She closes her eyes, braced for another punch or whatever they had planned to knock her unconscious. Instead, she felt the soft and worn texture of her kitchen tea towel, warm water delicately dabbing at her bloody nose.

Spade actually looked remorseful, doing his best to be as gentle as possible while Ace held her still. His eyes briefly met hers before looking away, his expression turning even more pitiful, “Our most sincere apologies,  Dear Miss…”

Once the blood on Yuu’s face was gone, the two men finally pulled away. Ace stood at the doorway, customer service smile still on his face, while Spade sheepishly handed over her purse with another muttered apology. 

Ace tilts his head and waves, “Goodbye, Dear Miss. Though, I don't think I have to tell you…this whole mess should stay between us three? We've all been a little roughed up tonight, but there's no need to get the police involved, right?”

Yeah, because she'd be the dumbass to think the police would help her with one of the city's most legally protected mafia families. Obviously.

Yuu shakes her head, “I understand. Just…lock the door on your way out…”

Ace laughs while Spade nods his head, eyes firm in their dedication of her task. Ace nods, leaning down and picking up the gun. He moves quick, seeing Yuu tense the moment she realizes what he's grabbing, placing it in the holster at his side.

“Will do, Dear Miss. Have a good night.”

And with the same amount of surprise they appeared, they were gone. The click of her metal door locked and closed doing little to ease her mind. Her hands start to shake, the pot slowly slipping between her fingers and hitting the carpet below. As the adrenaline fully faded, Yuu could feel her body start to crumble, the pain and taste of blood still vibrantly present on her tongue. As she fell back on her bed, breathing forcibly slowed, she did her best to calm herself.

Only to bolt up, flinging herself off of her duvet and hard onto the carpet. Scrambling out to the small living room, her thoughts raced.

‘Where's Grim?’

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Do you have any headcanons for Wizarding stereotypes and social norms?

I love how your brain works! ❤️❤️

Hi, thank you so much 💓. I'm arriving at this ask a little late, but I have a lot of random, small and large headcanons about wizarding culture (in the uk and the rest of the world), and I have a tag for my HP headcanons in general. Many of these appeared in past posts, but I'll try to summarize like 20 headcanons about wizard culture and social norms in the UK (some of them are very based in canon, and others are just vibes):

1. Fashion. I love historical fashion, and I made posts about wizarding fashion in the uk before (wizard fashion, robes vs muggle-inspired fashion, Hogwarts robes). I believe even when we see wizards in more muggle-style suits/jackets, they are still, more often than not, wizard-made and are made with colors and fabrics that muggles would consider weird to put together.

Like, Dumbledore isn't close to the only one who dresses like an eyesore. Even the twins are described wearing some jackets I don't think would pass anywhere in the Muggle world. And everyone is wearing hats, a lot, all the time, especially older generations.

2. Traditions regarding what you do with your wand once you die change between families/location/time period. Like, during, say, the 13th century in England, everyone got buried with their wands, but in the 18th and 19th centuries it was all the rage to keep a wand display of deceased family members at home. (Talked about a bit here)

3. In the UK, most wizards are culturally Christian. Denominations vary, but I believe they have a sort of magical Anglican denomination, which includes some of their own saints and doesn't place a heavy focus on prayer or going to church, and more about community. (I have a whole series about this subject, with the last entry here and the most quote-based entry here)

Similarly, I believe there used to be a chapel at Hogwarts, but it fell out of use throughout the centuries and has been remodeled into something else. I mean, no large castle from the Middle Ages is complete without a private chapel.

4. We know there are a lot of stereotypes regarding wand woods and wand cores ("When his wand’s oak and hers is holly, then to marry would be folly" from pottermore), and I believe there are others.

I'm not the first to note the symbolism between wands and manhood (Lucius losing his wand, short wands associated with a "lacking" character). So, I 100% believe "polishing your wand" is a euphemism for jerking off. Similarly, they probably have sayings like "you know what a long wand means".

Basically, wands are a big deal, and there are a lot of superstitions/stereotypes around them.

5. Because of that, I think some people would boast their wand wood/core, and keeping these facts super secret is seen as you having something to hide. Adding a wand handle to your wand is seen as a way to hide that the wand is actually really short, etc.

6. It's not exactly a headcanon since it's heavily implied by canon, but the first son gets his father's name as a middle name, the first daughter gets the mother's name as a middle name, then younger children get grandparents' names, then aunts, uncles, etc.

7. The legal drinking age is 13 for light alcohol (like butterbeer) or for drinking with parental supervision. For harder alcohol (like Firewhisky), the legal drinking age is 16. (That's the feeling I get)

8. In general, alcohol consumption is seen as healthy and common in the Wizarding World, like it was in the 19th century. The type of alcohol and amount do have social connotations, though. A lot. In terms of class, intelligence, trustworthiness, etc. but drinking in itself is seen as chill and no one really thinks too much of it if it's not extreme (and even then it isn't treated as an addiction). (Talked about here & here)

9. I also think their age of consent is 16 and not 18. (The majority age is 17, so it seems right to me). They could also legally get married at 16, though it's somewhat frowned upon to marry before you graduate. This is a leftover of a time when many wizards didn't stay at Hogwarts for the final 3 years and went on to start with life instead.

10. As I implied, I think it used to be pretty common to drop out of Hogwarts after 5th year. Especially for poorer working-class wizards/witches. This is why you only need 1 passing OWL to keep your wand.

I think NEWTs are treated like higher education of sorts and were/are optional, but like with muggle universities/collages most of the population does study these extra years since many jobs started requir NEWTs in specific fields. Not all jobs, plenty are fine with just OWLS.

It's common to drop many subjects in the final 2 years, like Harry does. He actually keeps more subjects than the average student, who stays with 2-3 subjects for NEWTs at most.

11. They don't have any universities/academies or that sort of higher education. It's just NEWTS and then apprenticeships/on-the-job training.

11. In general, the number of OWLs the Golden Trio passed is above average. I talked about it here, but the average amount of passing OWLs with grads good enough for the NEWT classes seems to be ~4 per student. Fred and George's 3 each isn't unusual; their brothers are just academically gifted and ambitious. (Bill got 12 OWLs, Charlie is smart, Percy is Percy, and Ron is also really smart. And we don't know anything about Ginny's OWLs, but she must have gotten more than 5).

12. They are very sanitized to violence. We see corporal punishment (Molly chasing Fred and George with a broom) and other violent pranks (F & G melting Ron's tongue with an acid pop, the Mauraders) being seen as normal and acceptable. (Mentioned it a bit here)

In general, their standard for what's considered "bad" violence is different than ours. Anything that is easily reversible with a spell is seen as a little mean but no harm done, or even a little funny. If it's not permanent, it isn't really seen as harmful. When the harm is permanent, that's when it starts being taken more seriously (but even then, it depends on what the damage is, and often it isn't really treated as anything too serious).

13. Also, mental health is not a thing. Trauma is not harm because they don't really consptualise trauma is a thing. They understand when someone's having a "rough time" or if someone's being "overemotional," but they don't have therapy or anything like it. (I always found "mind healers" in fics out of place in their world. The only "mind healers" they'd have are ones for spell damage caused by Obliviate or curses like the Imperius or the Cruciatus). Any emotional/mental health situation is treated by friends/family support if you have good people around you, getting told to "get over it", or alcohol. (Talked about a bit here)

14. The reason Honeydukes has candy for vampires is because vampires are really rare and not seen as savages the way werewolves are. Vampires are seen as exotic, sexy creatures (kinda like veela, just without the magical attraction), and wizards, too, have trash vampire romance novels. (Talked about this more as well here)

15. It's weird to get a portrait taken when young. Magical portraits are expensive to make since there is like, 1-2 wizards in the UK who do it (I headcanon Dean Thomas grows to paint magical portraits post-series as he is mentioned to draw in the books). So, getting one when you're young means you expect to die soon. It's seen as more extreme than writing a will, and something you don't do without a good reason. It's seen as paranoid and bringing bad luck. As in, getting a magical portrait taken is like asking death to come knock at your door. Hence, why I headcanon Aunt Muriel didn't commission hers yet.

16. Divination as thought at Hogwarts is seen by the majority of the wizarding world as a practice best reserved for wizards/witches who have the talent for it. Like, you have prophecies - seen as rare and mysterious, and you have omens - which is what everyone can learn to do to a degree, but most aren't good at it. There is real magic there (as the centaurs prove) just, not the way Trawlany goes about it. So most wizards treat it as a legitimate field, but one you need a talent for.

17. They're, in general, into astrology. I mean, they study star charts in Astronomy, and the planets' movements is magical in canon (centaurs, certain ingredients need to be harvested in a certain moon phase, etc). So, like, the average wizard could go: "yes, I'm having it tough. You know Mercury is in retrograde," but also, a completely different astrology that is all their own. Like: "When Jupiter is bright, it's a good time for potion making" or something. Along with superstitions that some couples actually take into account when conceiving children, like being born when there is a specific angle between Venus and Mars will make you lucky, or certain plants that predispose you to any Hogwarts house. Like, I'd imagine their birth charts look different from ours, since they pay attention to different things and note them differently. Like, they'd include the angles of various constellations as well, and it'll look different (At least, I'd like to think so).

18. I think they have a lot of little superstitions in general (like seeing a grim). Stuff like, don't propose on a dark moon if you want the marriage to last, seeing a unicorn in the wild is a sign of good luck, professional Quidditch players have lucky underwear they never wash, etc.

19. They aren't prude around nudity. I mean, no one seems to struggle with getting dressed or taking showers with other people in their dorms, even when they aren't used to it (it is something that takes getting used to if you didn't grow up seeing it as normal). There are portraits and talking mirrors that watch you and comment on your appearance in bathrooms and bedrooms, we know many wizards (young Snape, Archie from the Quiddich World Cup) don't wear trousers under their robes (Archie is implied to not be wearing underwear either) and pottermore stated they used to take dumps wherever (though, I think they do have decency around that). Even if we look at the scene before the battle of the 7 Potters, no one considers it weird for them to get dressed in Harry's body. So, it seems nudity or partial nudity around others isn't as taboo or a breach of privacy the way we see it. Especially when it comes to men/boys. (This is part of why no one in-universe sees SWM as SA)

(Which would make sense for a culture stuck in the past. In the Middle Ages, you had bath houses, and families would all sleep in the same room. Sex and nudity weren't as taboo)

20. They think they know about their history way more than they do. I think Hogwarts wasn't built the way they think it was, the timeline of the Peverells and the Founders is all wrong — but no one except a few passionate wizard historians actually know. Everyone else thinks they must know their true history better than muggles because they are wizards (though they don't).

I have a bunch more headcanons that just don't come to mind right now, but I might add them later.

[sinnamonvoid]

This is why countries do floodplain surveys like FEMA'S riskmap (https://www.fema.gov/flood-maps/tools-resources/risk-map), sometimes it is not that obvious where the floodplain is and how it will change until you model it. Especially as climate change increases how destructive storms are it's incredibly important to check how future events could wipe out existing structures and how soon. If you currently don't know what floodplain is around you I recommend checking what agency controls regulations and taking a look (Floods aren't the only studied hazards so take a look for others too)

Aside from just damages to structures though I really wish more people recognized:

1. Channelized flood ways like this (especially concrete lined) increase water temperatures and can decrease dissolved oxygen (makes it so fish can't breathe well through these stretches and decreases water quality for fish downstream too plus you can get more algae growth in these conditions where not much else thrives). This means these not only hurt people during flooding events that may become more common/severe, but also their local ecology *all the time*

2. Channels like this generally cause water to move faster (elimination of turns/banks/eddies/slope variations) which could decrease standing water in some cases, but can also increase erosion (faster water has more energy to carry more and larger particles of soil). So the community loses more material even at lower flooding events

3. The intention behind these channels are often complicated and typically well intentioned when they were/are constructed. Civil engineers and regulators are constantly learning from past decisions to figure out what serves the needs of people best for their circumstances. People have always wanted to live near the water because (in case this wasn't obvious) we need it to live and most everything we do needs water access. Cities generally can't just not be near a water source without having to make large investments in getting water to them anyways and even if there isn't a large body of water or river nearby rainfall can be enough to have a devastating flood on an unprepared area. This means engineers/regulators look for ways to mitigate risks to what we already have near rivers and try to maximize habitable space by waterfronts. The thing about streams though, is they do not want to stay following the same path forever, they want to wriggle around the face of the earth like snakes having a seizure. Being unable to predict how they move or when means being unable to communicate hazards and plan buildings nearby that can last a century (commonly you don't want to have to have to do repairs/rebuild important infrastructure/buildings within a shorter timeframe than that). So seeing risks to historic structures, existing communities, and emergency facilities there was some logic behind "lets make a channel so the water can move out of the city center faster and on a predictable path we can build around." If that works for a city, great, but it's got risk factors that Civil Engineers, Regulators, and Clients (whoever is funding it) have to consider

[ahappydnp]

Hey so I hope this is okay to ask as i’m a bit confused and crazy atm. In the WIQYT screenshots going around again about the doc, the last one talks about Dan having self image issues. I was curious if you could possibly help spread some light on the subject maybe? I remember always seeing him posted on the proana blogs back in the day frequently, and even in Dan and Depression he says his lexapro made him “gain loads of weight” but it never seemed like anything visually changed. I know you’re not a mind reader and trying to understand another persons self image is impossible, I guess I just maybe don’t understand where this comes from. I know he used to rag on himself in videos by putting pillows down his shirt to signify that he was chubby as a kid even tho he never was from the pictures available. I’m aware this is very parasocial but I’ve been going through a lot self image wise and he never got to make his documentary where he talks about it and idk. To me, Daniel is lowkey a philosopher and i’m so desperate to hear what he has to say on the subject. Can you think of any times he’s talked about this kind of stuff? (Sorry for this being such a downer anon i just kinda feel like i need to hear about it rn and i don’t know where to look)

I hope your weekend is amazing and filled with joy and laughter!

like you said, no one knows what goes on inside someones mind especially things like insecurities. but i do think it's two seperate issues that dan has talked about (under the cut for sensitive topics)

i think it's important to remember how society treated weight in the early 00s, obviously it was muuuuch worse for women but boys would also get ridiculed for their weight regardless of their size. i assume that dan did get picked on for being bigger (more than likely he was probably just taller than his classmates but kids just really like generalizing words like "fat" and that sticks in your brain). it was such a shitty time for body acceptance as a whole and he was bullied so much i'm sure people did throw in weight comments just to add to the blow.

and like everything else that's going to stick and then when you're a little older you just repeat this truth that other people told you that "i was a fat kid and fat=bad just like gay=bad so i'm going to agree with them" of course that was suuuuuuper toxic and unhealthy and dan definitely did even more damage peddling casual fatphobia and making insensitive jokes online. but he was pretty openly struggling with his body image from the get go (all the ED comments he made in 2009) and as we know, there's generally another root cause. dan's talked about his self hatred when he was younger (particularly stemming from the bullying and his internalized homophobia) at length and it makes sense that manifested into body dysmorphia the second part is in that screenshot from WIQY he was specifically talking about gay men's beauty standards which is a whole different issue altogether. he's talked a lot about his baby face and how he's felt insecure about his lack of "masculine" features and build. he's talked about how people don't take him seriously because he doesn't look like "a man". there's also the added layer of him being the poster child for ~pretty boy twink~ who's now getting older and aging out of those very rigid beauty standards solely because he's no longer 21. but gay men can be incredibly toxic when it comes to labels and what's attractive (i mean think about the fact that grindr literally has a body type filter so you can exclude whole subsets of people). so he's not saying that he's not attractive or not the general beauty standard, it's that he came out and fell face first into gay standards discourse because he was actively engaging and consuming queer community in a new light

allll of this to say i COMPLETELY get how it can instinctively rub people the wrong way when dan howell, who was famously coined "the hot one" for years and has had people drooling over him his entire adult life, says he's insecure. it can feel like a slap in the face if you don't consider his own struggles but i do think he's self aware and healed enough to know that he's very much within societal beauty standards (tall, straight sized, white, eurocentric features) and has actually benefited greatly in his career because of his looks. and he's unpacked a lot of his fatphobia and has made a point to be vocally body positive even going back to like 2016/2017

[reality-warp]

A word from Rella concerning AI, binding and selling fics, and Book 3 of Rávamë's Bane

Hey folks,

I’m treating this post as a bit of a blanket PSA for all those who read my work and follow me here, but I’ll also be copying the message over to AO3 once Book 3 of Rávamë's Bane goes up. Before anyone gets spooked, all is well, I am well, and I’m still happily working on the first 5 chapters of Amabilis Insania. However there are a few glaring subjects that have sprung up in the fandom space that I can’t really ignore. The fanfic community as a whole has changed a lot in the past decade I've been part of it, and given some of the unpleasant stuff I’ve seen going on in just the past year, I wanted to cover some housekeeping points ahead of posting the next RB book.

1.) Please don’t ever bind and sell fanfics.  Profiting from fanfiction in any way is completely illegal, and puts the entire community at risk.  I’m lucky enough that I’m a relatively small fish in the fanfic pond, so no one has sold bound copies of my story specifically (that I know of). However, I know several folks who have had their work bound and sold without their knowledge, and have had to take their fics down completely to stop it happening (which royally sucks). If you see any fanfics being sold on sites like Etsy, please do report them — they are absolutely not supposed to be there. And if you want a bound copy of a fic for personal use, I'd really encourage you to learn to bind them yourself. There's a tonne of tutorials out there, it’s pretty fun and easy to learn (I picked it up in a couple of weeks) and it doesn’t take as many materials as you’d imagine. Side note: I have made typesets of LM and CM for myself and friends, but honestly, I’m reluctant to share them publicly now given all the above. That said, if you really want a copy of LM or CM for personal use only, you can message me directly on Tumblr and I can maybe look into making a watermarked version to share on request.

2.) In light of the recent news that AO3 was scraped to create a generative AI dataset, I’ve decided I’ll only be posting the final RB book to AO3 from now on. On top of that, all my fics will be restricted to users with AO3 accounts only. I really don’t want to do this as it cuts off guest users from enjoying the story too, but for now it’s the only way to protect my work from being scrapped again. I don’t believe this will be a one-time occurrence given how carelessly AI is being used right now, and I feel very strongly that no one’s work should be used in model training without their consent.

The vast majority of you in my comments, asks and kudos are genuinely wonderful, and I’m so damned grateful that you aren’t a part of the issues above. However, with all that in mind, let me be absolutely clear just for the public record…

!!TRLD: This Is The Important Bit!! You do not, and will never have my consent to: - use any of my writing in generative AI (this includes making AI-generated fanworks, or scraping my fics for training AI models) - bind and sell any of my fanfics (profiting from fanfiction is completely illegal, and puts it at risk for us all)  - profit in any way from any of my work that I have publicly shared online (this includes putting my fics on recommendation lists behind paywalls, or selling my fics in the form of typesets or bound copies)

If you do any variation of the above despite knowing the risk it poses to the entire fanfic community, I respectfully hope you spend the rest of your life in clothes that smell damp no matter how much you run them through the dryer.

To the rest of you; a genuine thank you for making the community what it is. And thank you for making the RB comments section specifically such a joyful place to be.

I promise my next post/update will be less grim.

Until then,

Rella x

[weirdstrangeandawful]

Also the information retained over thousands of years or hundreds of generations is never going to be mundane or specific. Even most elements of culture will not survive for millennia.

First Australians’ recollection of the end (well we’re in one now but you know what I mean) of the last ice age 7000 years ago and the Klamath people’s recollection of the Mt Mazama eruption 7700 years ago are well known examples of information that endured 300-400 generations and it endured because it is life or death information. Specifically life or death of the entire community and beyond. Things like ‘how to avoid being eaten by a sabre-tooth tiger’ and ‘what plant is safe to eat’ and especially ‘what family ruled over what people’ just don’t make the cut and don’t get passed down for anywhere near as long.

Disastrous shifts in resources like the end of an ice age or catastrophic events like the eruption of Mt Mazama do get passed on because, unlike the animals and plants around them or the mountains or the lakes or the rivers or even the coastlines, the fact that something occurred and it was catastrophic can and will happen again.

That’s also why the details passed down in the myths aren’t often perfectly true to the event. They get changed and moulded so that the story remains relateable to the people who need to remember them because the important thing isn’t what happened but rather that something happened and it was bad and something could happen again and be bad.

Other things that aren’t catastrophes also get preserved but they have bearing on the survival of the community. Things like supernovae (new star appeared in the sky!!!) get preserved in myths too, particularly because stars are used to navigate and navigation is important (wandering haphazardly away from known food sources and water would be bad) and a new star showing the fuck up and then slowly fading away to nothing is kind of like someone punching a hole in your collective map.

pro-tip: don't ever use the sentence "thousands of years" in your worldbuilding unless you really know what a thousand years is like

[velvetvexations]

the truscum revival of it all is just so so so. like, james somerton w/his "straight women" wasn't even that long ago. the connection to me is that people are just lying and lying and lying again and now they've found an acceptable target. "tmes/transmascs are all like this" and is that transmasc in the room right now? will you (general you) maybe stop misgendering all the trans women who also don't buy your bullshit or will you just call the lot of them trans men because that's the demographic you've decided can be the catchall for all the behaviour you (general you) have decided is cringe enough to bully without setting off the conscience.

it's about how the backlash against "i identify as an attack helicoptor" was cast as an all-tme hate campaign when that is far from the truth. it's about how people are just assuming personality traits of a whole demographic that they just do not fucking interact with and it's *fine* because it's progressive, everyone, trust. it's progressive to just throw in a little preceding "tmes do this--" to whatever you (general you) say, just to make sure that no one can question whatever you (general you) decide to bully

thanks for listening as always, velvet

the community has fallen so far which says a lot because it was abysmal before