#but it's a different thing than a simple tactical error

[whetstonefires]

this is a reasonable post except for the ludicrous historical revisionism of trying to argue that a billion-dollar franchise that continued having major motion pictures and theme parks about it was 'forgotten as soon as the books stopped.' like. if that were what had happened this obviously wouldn't be an issue.

why enjoying harry potter related media as an adult in 2023 isn't morally comparable to being a lovecraft fan:

-lovecraft does not personally benefit from cultural relevance or your financial support bc he is dead

-lovecraft is an indispensable facet of literary canon & has a genre named after him, you can't cast him aside even if you want to, which can't be said for your middle of the road young adult series that was forgotten as soon as the books stopped.

-lovecraft fans have done infinitely more to deconstruct and reclaim lovecraft's work than harry potter fans' pure denial/apathy.

[writingquestionsanswered]

I'm a teen aspiring author. I live in a house with three children and my walls and door are not very soundproof. Do you have any tips to get focused not by reducing distractions but getting focused while still being in the middle of chaos?

Focusing Despite the Chaos

Even if you can't eliminate distractions, it's still worth trying to minimize them, so I want to start there... then I'll get to what to do if you can't. Here are some things you might be able to try...

1 - Minimizing Noise - In a perfect world we could all afford a nice pair of noise cancelling headphones, but there are other ways to minimize the noise that reaches your ears. For example, many convenience stores and stores with pharmacy areas sell packets of disposable ear plugs for just a few dollars. These can reduce noise enough to make it less distracting, so definitely worth a try.

2 - Utilize Continuous Sound/"Noise Colors" - Continuous sound, like the deep rumble of a waterfall or the gentle roar of heavy rain, falls on a spectrum called noise colors. White Noise covers all frequencies equally, so it provides a soothing background hum that can help to minimize other sounds. You can find white noise generators via different apps and places like YouTube or web sites like A Soft Murmur. Or, you can put on a loud fan, air purifier, air conditioner, etc. Pink Noise is a little softer, like the fall of gentle rain, so this might be something like a fan on a lower setting. Brown noise is a step lower than that, like the ambient noise you get from having the window open on a quiet but breezy day. White, pink, or brown noise can be a great way to reduce the impact of chaos coming from the rest of the house.

3 - Put on a YouTube Ambience Room - YouTube is absolutely bursting with "ambience rooms" and channels dedicated to study music, sleep music, relaxation music, etc. These can be a fantastic way to promote focus, not only because they give you something steady to listen to, you can often find things that gel thematically with whatever you're writing, which can help you block out other distractions.

4 - Try a ZenWare Writing Program - OmmWriter, ZenWriter, Focus Writer, and others provide features that help you focus on your writing, such as simple interfaces, special typing sounds, white noise and sound generators, and word counters. These are not typically free but are usually reasonably priced.

5 - Shift Your Writing Time - Even a chaotic house has its quiet times. It could be early in the morning before everyone else is awake, late at night after everyone else is in bed, during mealtime, or when everyone is away. Pay attention to when the chaos is at its lowest each day and try to utilize those times for writing if you can.

When you can't minimize the chaos...

Any combination of the above tactics can still be great ways to help you focus a little more, even if it doesn't really reduce the noise or chaos. Just having things like a special screen or special audio to focus on can help you mentally block out distractions. To some degree, it's something that takes some trial and error--to see which tactics work for you--and practice. I know writers who can write on plans, trains, buses, car rides, in the middle of busy places... it's just something they did out of necessity and got good at with time. You will, too. ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[zoobus]

I'm not normally a victim of FOMO tactics, nor do I usually let being late to the party stop me from chatting about a piece of media but I'm genuinely sad I didn't get into Obey Me/Nightbringer earlier. It makes me want to write a million essays but the disposable and decentralized nature of gacha kind of makes it feel like you missed your chance to talk about it. I keep coming across years old, unrepliable comments that I want to jump on sooo bad but I can't because the moment is gone and most of these people have likely moved on to less overtly money-hungry games.

Which sucks! because one essay I want to write in particular is how this game is extremely skilled in arousing your desire to create, to actively engage with the characters and worldbuilding, to do fandom shit, and I find this enormously fascinating in itself. The story isn't good but to a certain extent, it's not supposed to be; it functions as an elaborate set of writing/art/rp prompts for its audience to expand on and tailor to their needs.

And I think Obey Me does this well! Amazingly well. I find discussion of narrative structure fascinating, the study of how we define writing as effective, good, or as failures, so I'm drawn to this story full of contradicting lore, one-note characters, and half-finished plots. The story isn't good but that hardly matters because it's not here to be a good story; it's here to throw you into imagination boot camp. It compels you to speculate what it could be, what this character could be, what a slightly different tone would look like, what other people think about it. It feels distinct from the average popular show fandoms where, to an extent, creators congregate simply because that's where the people are. Creating for your own sake is nice and all but validation is usually a stronger force. Usually.

I keep coming across old high effort researched posts about abrahamic religions and occultism from fans setting themselves up for inevitable disappointment. I keep coming across creators leaving notes on their work like "I haven't written a thing in ten years, but,". I keep losing it over heartfelt posts defending x and y canon story decisions with their whole chest, oblivious to the fact that they're misremembering their personal tweaks/headcanons as what happened in the game, like it's seriously so cute when they're so passionate and completely wrong.

I have no idea if fandom actually plays a role in the lucrativeness of a franchise (though as a personal anecdote, I 100% started Obey Me after a single piece of horny Mammon fanart crossed my dash), but it makes more sense to me now, less a projection of wishful/haterful thinking from those with strong opinions about Fandom. Maybe it really does matter.

---

Other essays I missed the boat on:

A Casino Right in Your Home: goddamn is the pre/sequel's gacha obscene

Satan: how to put a mid character into S-tier with one simple trick (make him insane)

Sorry Belphie defenders but you're imagining a better psycho than you were given

Solmare added a shiny new rhythm game but didn't fix the now four year old coloring error on Levi's hands lmfaooo the disrespect is crazy

Remember when you saw the Nightbringer trailer of them glaring in bdsm gear with freshly blackened wings, and you thought "ah, so this takes place right after they fought god and lost. After they went to war to protect their sister only for her to die anyway. After one brother in particular saves someone, but not her, the focal point of the war. They will finally take these to their logical, guilt despair rage pain and grudge filled ends." And you were correct until that very last sentence? lol

Remember when the Ruri-chan event gave you the option to tell Levi you're not cheating on him and then the rest of the event was just making out with his brothers? Then it ends with you kissing him in front of them? Bring that energy back!!!

[howlingday]

Would the Imperium of Man execute Ironwood for trying to run from Salem?

I'm not an expert on Warhammer, so I'm not really the best person to ask on matters of the Grimdark universe. However, I will answer this to the best of my knowledge and ability.

I tried to find an answer on Google, but I couldn't find a specific answer to this question, which was "does the imperium punish cowardice?" The most obvious answer to this is "Yes" and that's usually by the blade of bullet of the Commissar, whose entire job in the Imperium is to execute cowards as a deterrent of treason and to instill good order and discipline among the guardsmen they are tasked to guide. Kinda like a drill instructor on the battlefield who will put a bullet in you if they get a whiff of anything less than proper soldier behavior.

However, this scenario is very... unique, and complex in a way that goes beyond simple cowardice. See, General James Ironwood, whatever his intentions may have been, was trying to help Atlas by keeping himself, the city, its people, AND the relic out of Salem's reach. So, yes, while he is essentially running away from the threat of the Grimm, it can also be observed as a tactical withdrawal to prevent even worse casualties, or the fall of Remnant.

Again, I'm not an expert. The better people to ask Warhammer questions would be @the-wayward-arc or @weatherman667 , though I also asked my buddies in the Discord their thoughts on the matter, and they responded with similar answers, saying either Ironwood would have been shot OR wouldn't have due to the tactical reasoning for his retreat. One response was, "If you're throwing Ironwood into the 40K universe, he would have tried to get an Exterminatus on Salem." Take that as you will.

And because I'm still trying to figure out the difference between a laspistol and a lichtor (hint: only one of them MIGHT kill ya), I also asked my buddies IRL, who have been in this nightmare of a universe since they were kids. I described to them this scenario,

"There's this general, and his kingdom is about to be destroyed AND the only thing that could stop the Big Bad from destroying everything. Would he be executed in the 40K universe for cowardice?"

The first guy's response,

"If it's a general, he's never seeing the light of day again. The Inquistors would send a guy to torture him to death, and the Imperium would send their guard to overthrow and replace him. And since he's not only acting in cowardice, but he's also sacrificing ammunition resources to the threat, he might be be turned into a servitor as punishment."

My other buddy said,

"It's hard to say in the setting of the 41st millennium. Funny enough, there's actually a similar scenario in the Siege of Terra where a Captain is ordered to move sky plates to block orbital fire, which saved a bunch of ground forces and civilians, but at the cost of their flying fortress that Dorn needed to protect Terra as a contingency plan. An atrocity of 100% casualties may be considered a success if the objective was achieved. A cleric was given a position in the Inquistors because he made the mistake of not reporting an error, then lying that the mistake was an indication of heresy, which it was. Actions as you see them now could be condemned or praised in the future, but you won't know in the now."

The second buddy then proceeded to drop the biggest lore bomb I've ever heard from the recent finale of the Siege of Terra series. But I won't spoil it here.

Was Ironwood a coward? Would he have been punished? What WH foe is equivalent to the Grimm? I have no idea, BUT what I do know is that I appreciate you coning to me with these fascinating questions.

Until next time,

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

[liminalheadspaces]

Having my life is beautiful realization has truly rocked my world more than any existential crisis could. It's beautiful but it's hard doesn't cut it - it fucking sucks. It didn't occur to me to grieve the mythic dream of the grind, doing everything and anything in pursuit of goals and dreams. It would all be worth it because I would eventually reach this place in life where I'd be doing what I had always wanted and dreamed of. In fact, I poured all of my energy into loving life and wanting to stay alive because of all the things I wanted to accomplish. It was what held me down years ago, and even as things changed, that mindset never left me. Up until recently, so many of what I coined as my happiest moments of late were instances where I was making career moves that felt like progress towards lifelong dreams. The progress filled me with so much happiness. But these days, I have begun to experience these boring yet overwhelmingly cathartic things: the mundane things that aren't productive in the capitalist lens and the tiny moments that are so simple that it feels silly to explain why it demonstrates the inherent beauty of life. And as I begin to find joy in other things, I am confronted with the fact that I haven't reconciled old wounds of wanting to stick around to just be. I only know how to stick around because I'm busy pursuing a dream. I don't know how to want to live because I like life. Not only an I grieving an idealized version of what finding happiness looks like, I am also grieving my survival tactic that held my hand for years and years. Sticking around just a little longer because I'm looking forward to something in the future; clinging onto a tiny stubborn spark of hope that casts a tiny shadow even during the worst of times. And most of all, I'm struggling to reconcile new ways of being and new reasonings for staying alive. As much as I know that I'm so much more ready than I was years ago, I didn't think I'd find myself back in the depths of rewiring my own motivation structure and even possibly contemplate the worthiness of life at all. I really never thought I'd be scared to think about anything because it's truly all that I do, but I've been down this road before and I know how easily I can get lost in the murky water and pushed out to sea. I'd spiral so fast. I think I've pushed away contemplating this for years because I figured it was just my depressive tendencies coming out during a particularly bad episode. And now I'm really fucking scared. It's different: I'm not being overridden with a deep ache in my heart when I think about it. But I'm also feeling awfully logical about it and I think that scares me in a different way, because what if I decide objectively that the cons outweigh the pros? It is after all, a world of oppressive institutions whose violent systems are consistently upheld and perpetuated. I don't know. I know I'll be fine because I'm in such a good place with my mental health after years of trial and error and learning how to keep myself alive. I have a wonderful support system and habits that keep me sane, but I'm just feeling so insanely overwhelmed because I didn't expect to find myself here. After all, who the fuck starts seeing the beauty of life and immediately gets triggered about their own mortality?

-serena

<3

[shxwmaster]

@throned​ asked:  “Something else is bothering you. What’s going on?” / from varian!

quotes from things i’ve written

—

     He’d laid out the details of the current conflicts outside of Elwynn rather eloquently, Shaw thought. Concise, to the point, and offered three suggested strategies to deal with the rise of hostilities past the gates — he trusts Varian’s judgement and tactical mind, and is ready to deploy his agents at his call. 

     Smooth, like a well-oiled machine. Efficiency above all else.

     Shaw would’ve been satisfied with just that. Brief, conclusion, depart. Simple routine. Never mind that sometimes, it gets a little too much, too overbearing, that there’s still a larger margin for error than Shaw is comfortable with. Finding ‘bandits’ that they thought to be a lesser of a threat prior so close to the Keep made his skin crawl — what if he’d been too slow? What if he slipped? He would have missed it, and they would be having a very different conversation.

     And perhaps, it showed on his face a little too much. Shaw had always been a master at wearing a mask of neutrality and strict professionalism; to emote, is to leave yourself open to vulnerability. A gaping wound, a crack in the facade, and anyone can pounce in it — he is lucky it is Varian that does, and not anyone else ——

     He gathers the pieces of his fractured mask, piecing himself back together to something less exposed. “ Apologies, my king, ” He says coolly. “ My personal concerns should not affect my work. I only wish to ensure things run smoothly, is all. I simply worry having such things strike so close to home. ”

     It’s not too dreadful, really. Within a week, he can guarantee the SI:7 will have rooted out this group and erased them from history easily. But it piles on. It always piles on.

     “ Rest assured, I will have it dealt with swiftly. You won’t even remember it happened at all. ”

[imspardagus]

Labouring under a delusion

It has become something of a mantra of despair to croon that “democracy is under threat”. You find the phrase being intoned everywhere you turn, politically: on the left, the right and in the centre. That does not mean that it isn’t so. But we have to be careful not to mistake the nature of the threat. Sadly, that is what Labour (and, come to that, the Tories) appear to be doing.

It is their attitude to the so-called “Reform Party” that is leading them astray. They want to see it as a political force hell bent on becoming the Government, just as they insist on seeing its “leader”, the money-grubbing spiv Nigel Farage, as having his eyes set on becoming the next Prime Minister.

These errors have led both of the main parties to regard Reform, and Farage, as offering the template for political success, which is what they yearn for, to make them popular with a section of the people whose votes they want for themselves, rather than concentrating on actually offering solutions to legitimate political and social concerns that are facing our nation. And that leads to them trying to espouse Reforms perverted “views”, and all because they each see themselves, and desperately want to be seen, as the rightful saviours of our people. At any price.

And that, I suggest, is the real threat to democracy.

It has been long said that you should never try to debate with a madman: because to do so requires you to follow him down the rabbit holes of his own mad thoughts where your own logic has neither meaning nor leverage. In a sense the same is true of Reform’s populism.

The mistake is to imagine that Reform and Farage actually want to hold office. It’s an easy mistake to make, particularly if you have, yourself, a blinkered obsession with holding office. We find in others what we want in ourselves. A simple regard for history, however, offers a different story. I suggest that the last thing Farage wants is to be responsible for solving problems. That would be altogether too constraining on his real purpose which is nothing more than to breed and then monetise disaffection. Farage, like every spiv ever, goes where there are pickings to be made. And leaves as soon as they are gone. And pickings, as he and every other consumerist knows, are to be made where people are unhappy with their lot. If necessary you have to make them unhappy, or think they are.

Look to your history, boys. Look to how the fortunes were made in the Second World War; by taking advantage of the misery and misfortune of others. Farage has learned well. He is not trammelled by decency or loyalty. He has always followed the money. His behaviour on that dreadful night of the Brexit result he had engineered with thinly disguised racist images, bogus arguments about “sovereignty” and scare tactics, when he showed anybody with more than half a wit what a predatory chancer he was, even miscalling the outcome, which he knew full well, just to make a bit more. He left UKIP when it could no longer bankroll him to his satisfaction, after a lucrative spell in the European Parliament where his only purpose, beyond milking his expenses, was to create dissension and disorder, because that is what spivs thrive on. And then he turned Reform, supposedly a political party, into a commercial venture.

He can’t even be bothered to do the job of a constituency MP. Is it that it is too arduous? Is it that it is not important? No, it is just not where the money is.

Compared to Farage, Trump, Farage’s assumed hero, is a paragon of honesty. He actually wants to be top dog, to be the supreme leader, and he doesn’t care who knows it. He believes that he, and he alone, should be in charge. Yes, he is also fighting to gain the immunity of high office to keep himself out of jail and bancruptcy, charges that he know doubt honestly believes to be inspired by envy of his all-consuming magnificence. But there is more to it than that. He believes in the divine right of Trump.

Were Trump to lose power I doubt you would see Farage fawning after him for long. And why do you imagine he is now sucking up to Musk, that odious inflatable dollar doll? Money, my dears, just follow follow the money. Follow the stench of greed and malice.

No, the threat to democracy does not come from a fear that Farage and Reform will achieve power. It comes from the main parties believing that they must emulate him in order to succeed. The threat is that they will go anywhere, sacrifice any principle, to gain office for a while.

Stop up the streams of dirty money polluting our politics and Farage will be gone. Do it across the board, for all parties and there can be no complaints of unfairness. But the supposed upholders of democracy in this country are so wedded to their “friends with benefits” that they would rather destroy this country than give them up. And as long as the system can be bought and rigged so easily by those with vested interests democracy is dead in the water.

[chadangle]

Effective Business Leadership Strategies

Whether taking their first steps into leadership or seeking to enhance their leadership style, professionals can boost their ability to lead by following a few simple steps. This article will look at the importance of leadership strategy, sharing tactics to help leaders bring out the best in their teams, improving their company’s overall performance and profitability.

Chad Angle, head of ReputationDefender, has a proven track record of effective people leadership, having significantly increased departmental revenue in just 18 months in a previous role. As head of ReputationDefender, Mr. Angle is responsible for the company’s growth strategy, leading the world’s most trusted online reputation management and digital privacy company and helping clients to reclaim their digital presence.

Business strategy is integral to the success of any enterprise, providing a solid foundation on which to build the business. Strategy helps leaders to define their business, delineating its values and giving it purpose. Strategy also helps employees to understand what success looks like, providing a roadmap for the business and highlighting the destination, as well as identifying useful stopping points along the way.

Despite the very obvious benefits of creating a business strategy, it is staggering to note that in a recent poll by Barclays, just 53% of small business owners had a formal strategy in place to support the growth of their business. Strategic leadership involves developing a vision for a business that enables it to adapt and stay competitive in changing technological or economic climates. Strategic leaders use this vision to motivate employees, creating a sense of unity and direction to implement change throughout the organization.

Leading by example helps employees to see what lies ahead and swiftly respond to any challenges along the way. Where a group is led by an individual with poor leadership skills, it will be prone to conflicts as each person pulls in a different direction, wanting to do things their own way.

Great leaders lead by example, listening to their team and appreciating that even the most accomplished business leader can learn something new from the most junior employee. Most companies hire staff based on their experience and aptitude in specific fields. It is therefore vital for leaders to interact with and listen to all employees. For example, if the leader is an expert in investment, they are likely to benefit from advice from the marketing or accounting department on some issues. Leading by example also requires managers to get their hands dirty, getting involved in working processes themselves to develop new skills and knowledge while simultaneously building trust with employees. Leading by example involves adept conflict resolution and delivering on promised results.

Rather than attempting to dominate employees, effective leaders instead motivate them, exerting power and influence without being overbearing. They look at failures and mistakes as valuable learning opportunities, applying lessons learned from challenges and errors, making employees feel more comfortable and confident working under them.

It addition to creating a strategic vision for the workforce, is vital for entrepreneurs to create a vision for the customer experience, crafting a roadmap for the customer journey. Many leaders focus solely on where they want to be in the next five years, without spending nearly as much time contemplating what they want their customers to be experiencing by then. However, in increasingly competitive and customer-centric marketplaces, adopting a customer-centric approach is critical to commercial success.

Every business owner starts out with a clear business vision in their head. However, this is often unstated and almost unconscious. It is crucial for business owners to focus on strategy and developing a formal action plan, helping to crystalize the values and purpose of the business and its goals in the short and long term.

[johnnymarkssh]

Tips for small businesses for inventory management

Do you think inventory management for small businesses is easy? You might think it is as simple as having enough stock for all the products you are selling. But is that not true? It is more complicated than that. Inventory management is not just about how many products you need. It also takes into account the raw materials you need for product manufacturing and other supplies. To meet future demand, small businesses need to be sure of everything—raw materials, supplies, and products. With effective inventory management, you can save your business tons of money and time. Wondering what tips a small business can use? Here are a few to keep in mind:

Tips for small businesses for inventory management

Use an inventory method that is ideal for your small business.

There are a few inventory methods, and you need to find the one that works best for you. For instance, in a business with perishable products like food or flowers it involves selling the inventory you already have first and then getting more. It is known as the FIFO model. You can use this if it suits your business, or use another one.

Using inventory forecasting software

Automating your business by using the best inventory forecasting software is an effective strategy. It tells you about the requirements for the right product at the right time. 

Understand demand and forecast it accurately.

To manage your inventory effectively, you need to forecast it accurately. Inventory managers rely on the perfect data to help track the usage of the inventory. This includes a record of market trends, historical sales, technology, and seasonality. Moreover, inventory managers have to consider other factors like weather, demand shifts, and the economy's health. All this will help you accurately forecast demand, which is necessary.

Track stock levels.

Another system that works well is tracking how many specific items you have. Whether you are using it for representing goods to sell to customers or for product development, Knowing this is necessary, as it allows inventory managers to fine-tune the ordering processes. You must establish a well-documented and consistent cycle to minimize errors.

Know low-turn stocks

To be able to identify low-turn stock is necessary, as it helps inventory managers order raw materials. They do this by adjusting production output and knowing about the products that are not in demand anymore. If a product has been on the shelf for a long time , it shows diminishing demand for it. However, you can move it quickly by using different tactics, like running a special promotion or more. Do it quickly before the product becomes obsolete. 

Conclusion

From using inventory forecasting software to using the inventory method that is right for your business to identifying low-turn stock, there are many things you can do. All these methods will ensure your business does not have problems with inventory. If there are inventory problems, the business will suffer losses.

[jcmarchi]

Son and Bone Preview - Dinosaur, meet shotgun - Game Informer

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/son-and-bone-preview-dinosaur-meet-shotgun-game-informer/

Son and Bone Preview - Dinosaur, meet shotgun - Game Informer

Sometimes, a great idea can come from a simple premise. That’s how Son and Bone, the next game from TeamKill Media, the studio behind last year’s Quantum Error, came to be: a first-person shooter where you kill dinosaurs. Inspired by the dormant Turok series, TeamKill’s lead developer Micah Jones remarks about a joke the studio’s fans have made since the reveal of its dinosaur shooter at the top of the year. “They say, ‘If other game companies won’t do it, these developers will,’” Jones says, explaining that everyone on the team is a big fan of the Turok series.

After watching roughly 10 minutes of new Son and Bone gameplay, the Turok inspiration is clear, but so are its fast-paced arcade roots. “We like tactical, realistic stuff, but in this scenario, we were definitely seeking to be what you’d call a boomer shooter today, something more arcade-y and focused on chaotic gameplay.” That’s why I saw the kind of stuff the Doom series popularized: floating neon ammo and weapon pickups, gory execution kills activated by clicking R3 when an enemy flashes orange, the kind of movement that feels as if your field-of-view is cranked high, and plenty of blood. In a game where the premise is about killing dinosaurs, the boomer shooter gameplay feels like a perfect fit.

At the start of the game, Sheriff Samson is protecting a small town, but some bad things happen: bandits kill some people and take others hostage, and he goes after them. What transpires afterward involves aliens, their survival gauntlet featuring dinosaurs, other humans, and more created to see which DNA to use to create the perfect life form, and different worlds and timelines. Samson is modified with dinosaur DNA, which is why he has super strength and other inhuman abilities, and cares less about surviving this alien gauntlet and more about returning to Earth safely with the kidnapped people.

Jones says players can expect to fight mostly dinosaurs, but there are also human enemies, human-hybrid-dinosaur foes, and more. In my preview, I saw hostile alligators, snakes, raptors, and a passive brachiosaurus (that will turn hostile if you attack it). Players can expect t-rex enemies and other dinosaur classics like the spitting dilophosaurus that paints the screen with black effects and the spiky ankylosaurus. Players will have to handle Turok-style platforming over wooden docks, rocks jutting out of the ground, traps, and more. A laser lasso that acts as a grappling hook aims to make movement even more dynamic in combat and when platforming.

Son and Bone, like TeamKill’s other games, is visually impressive, and Jones says the team aims to look triple-A in that regard. But he also notes that as a team of four based in Montana – TeamKill was started in 2016 by four Jones brothers and remains that today – sometimes that can backfire. At an indie scale, mechanically, it’s hard to compete with multimillion-dollar first-person shooters like Call of Duty and Doom.

“We like the challenge, but it is hard, and we can’t do everything a big company can do,” Jones says, explaining how TeamKill’s visual style also ends up getting its games lumped into comparisons with triple-A releases. “We’re definitely going to try to meet that level every time, even if we’re small. Since [Son and Bone] is a smaller, more focused game, it should be easier to deliver a very polished triple-A quality of feel and gameplay since it won’t have all these massively complicated mechanics.

“It’s all a learning experience, and I like to look towards triple-A as a goal. If we fall short, we’re small and we learn from that.”

The dinosaur shooting will hopefully continue sooner rather than later as TeamKill is targeting a summer or fall release window for Son and Bone.

This article originally appeared in Issue 364 of Game Informer.

[saswathacademyworld]

6 Reasons Why: Importance of Puzzles in Learning Chess

Puzzles — sometimes they can be very easy to solve. Other times, they can be tough nuts to crack!

But no matter their difficulty, they are very important for a chess player to build their chess strength.

In this article, we’ll reveal the 6 reasons why they’re so important!

1. Puzzles Builds a Collection of Ideas

How does your child improve their mathematical skills? Most likely, they’ll grab a textbook, go to the exercises section and start solving them one-by-one. Then they’ll check their answers with the solution or with the teacher, and find out where they went wrong.Once they are made aware of their mistakes, they then have a guiding compass to solve the problem. They have studied an idea, and they’ll use it whenever a similar question arises in their exam.And when they solve many such exercises, they’ll eventually have a lot of ideas to solve different types of problems.The same thing happens in chess when you solve puzzles. You build a collection of ideas that you can use during the real game.So when you solve puzzles related to pins, you’ll become better at spotting pins.When you solve puzzles on improving pieces, you’ll have an idea of when you should improve your pieces and how.In chess, people call this intuition. Fortune tellers call this the 6th sense. But in reality, it’s just having 893 ideas fitted deeply into your mind, and knowing the right time to use them.

2. Puzzles Train You For The Real Game

Many puzzles that you solve on chess.com(or any other platform) are taken from real games. This means there’s actually a chance of the puzzles you solve appearing in the real game.In this fashion, you are training for what to do if the same position happens in your game. Not always the position will arise, but in most cases you can play the same idea in different games. We’ve seen it happen countless times in our student’s games!

3. Puzzles Require Active Learning

Let’s say if you are a software engineer — it’s one thing to know the theory of code and it’s a completely different thing to sit on the computer and write it!Sure you can know the theory of everything, but if you don’t apply what you learn, you’ll never know if what you learned works or not.And when you solve puzzles, you actively engage your brain to face real challenges on the chessboard. This way, you’ll also realize whether what you learned in a book or a lecture is actually effective!

4. Puzzles Are Fun & Build Confidence!

We see the joy on our children’s faces when they solve simple tactics. And when they are on a winning streak, it delights us even more to see their faces light up brimming with energy!In our academy, coaches regularly use puzzles to help his students build confidence. We have noticed many times students who become demotivated because of having trouble calculating simple lines in a game, get their confidence back by picking up simple puzzle excercizes.Not always you need to solve hard puzzles to improve your ability. Sometimes, you just need to spend time on simple ones that will give you a shot of confidence.

5. Puzzles Improve Your Thinking Process

In order for this to happen, you need to work with a coach or a player who’s stronger than you. When you solve puzzles, the road you took is much more important than the final goal you arrived at.You can take a bumpy road or a highway and still arrive at the same destination. But we all know what happens when you take the bumpy road. Your back hurts. You feel you are going against the flow, instead of going with it.That’s why it’s important to know whether the process behind solving the problem is actually effective or not!If you try to improve on the process on your own, you’ll have to use trial and error methods. But still you won’t be sure whether the process is effective or if there’s anything better.That’s why a coach or an experienced player can help you so much to fasten the process, and save you time and wasted effort.

6. Puzzle Improve Your Board Sight

Being able to see the board and how pieces move, without moving them physically, is a very important ability for a chess player. (Yes! Chess players are mentalists who see the invisible!)If you don’t use your chess brain for a long time, you’ll face difficulties in this area. And the best way to train this skill is by actually seeing the pieces move in your mind’s eye when you solve puzzles.We recommend solving longer puzzles — those whose solution is 3–4 moves at least. Here, you’ll have to push your mental eye to hold the position in your head for a little longer and get a much-need workout!

Every chess player does it!

Be it a world champion or an amatuer, every player indulges in puzzles. And if you are serious about taking your chess to the next level, make this activity a part of your daily routine! In time, you’ll see massive improvements in your game!

Good luck!

P.S. If you are looking for a coach for your child who’ll train you and boost your chess rating, then book your free demo class here!

[sadanseoofficial]

5 Simple And Effective Ways to Marketing for Service Industry

Businesses are continuously looking for new and imaginative ways to market their products. Service-focused companies can become lost in a sea of product-focused companies.

Service marketing can be challenging. How do you promote something intangible? How do you encourage someone to invest in a transcendental object? Marketing's great challenge is selling the invisible. Here's a quick look at why you need to marketing for service industry differently than a regular product business.

What makes marketing for service industry any different?

The biggest error service providers can make using product-advertising strategies. Trust is the key to selling your service to a customer.

When promoting a service, buyers need to know they can trust you since inadequate services can't be returned. If things go wrong, the customer's initial investment is wasted, and any hope of a successful customer-supplier relationship is lost. Here are five innovative strategies to sell a services business, starting with a clear message.

1. Make sure your marketing message is clear

Marketing for service industry should be explicit. Many business owners and marketers have too many ideas when marketing services. Service-strategy marketers should be clear. Your marketing should be engaging.

To attract customers, advertise how your business cures pain and provides comfort. As a service supplier, you must quickly captivate prospects. After choosing a message, most service providers use marketing methods to convert prospects into clients.

2. Think of a way to make your business stand out

Let's look at an outstanding service-focused organisation. X need content marketing. X decides to do the task himself after perusing web pages and testimonies.

X observed that many services are marketed in a boring, predictable way. A thorough self-analysis helps service providers differentiate themselves from competitors.

Service-based companies should compare their marketing tactics to their competitors. A service-centric corporation should sell its competitive advantages. Many shoppers prefer watching short videos over reading a booklet.

3. Focus on giving your customers more value

Service providers, get this straight. Sell value, not price! Unlike product marketers, services marketers compete on value.

Bundling services is a simple and effective way to add value for clients without cutting prices. Most service-centric companies integrate valuable features to boost customer value and treat them like people, not numbers.

Increasing customer value is creative. Adding value might help differentiate your company from the competition. Value-added services include:

• Increasing the speed of delivery.

• Giving customers expert advice or opinions.

• Improving the client service, you deliver.

4. Refine your marketing plan

Analyzing and revising a company's digital & revenue marketing strategy is key to success. An effective marketing plan focuses on something other than marketing your service; it examines the entire process. A marketing strategy combines firm goals and activities to attain them.

Several start-ups etch their marketing strategy in stone. As marketing evolves, so should your plan. When revising your marketing approach, keep SMART goals in mind.

5. Work on improving your existing client relationships

The sale of service-based firms needs to be completed at the cash register. When promoting services, you must be there long-term, including delivery and client support. Always improve customer relationships. Happy customers are the key to a company's success.

Catering to existing customers drives businesses to expand their services and create new entertainment activities. Improving consumer relationships generates more income than acquiring new customers.

Conclusion

You must carefully select your market niche before using the most effective marketing method for your service. Pipeline Velocity can help you marketing for service industry. They are a reliable organization.

[josethomasdubai]

Why are these ERP System Functionality Required?

Inventory Management

Your employer might now no longer be capable of function well everyday with out stock control. Inventory control helps you to apprehend the inventory blend and the unique needs on that inventory at any given point. Our Axolon software program for example, offers real-time inventory lists and immediately get admission to to consumer information to carry your logo to a brand new level. Having this facts to be had we could your logo make higher shopping for choices and control your deliver chain easily to get via any period. Another motive stock control is a essential function is that it enables song spending. You need to make certain that your commercial enterprise stays worthwhile and it`s continually in precise economic standing.

 Financial Management

This is one of the maximum vital ERP device functions, if now no longer the maximum vital. Having economic control talents will assist your commercial enterprise song at any given time its earnings and expenses. Your commercial enterprise can well plan for sustainable increase or reduce returned on charges if it`s needed. Having an ERP device with accounting talents is critical to absolutely apprehend the achievement of your commercial enterprise. You will need to locate an ERP device with economic functions consisting of debts payables, debts receivables, reporting, and payroll to call a few. Not all ERP structures will absolutely update the want for accounting software program, however what it is able to do is control the important thing regions that rely maximum in your commercial enterprise.

 Integration

Integration refers to an ERP device connecting with different applications. Businesses use more than one equipment for his or her everyday commercial enterprise desires and ERP structures combine with them to centralize all the data.

 Automation

You need an ERP device that makes your everyday operations simpler. Automating repetitive obligations, consisting of payroll, invoicing, reporting, and lots greater frees up greater precious time to develop your commercial enterprise. Getting rid of guide obligations and putting in place automation tactics can get departments throughout your commercial enterprise all at the identical web page at the same time as minimizing human errors.

 Mobile Friendly

Technology is continually converting and also you want an ERP device that helps you to paint from anywhere. A lot of agencies in recent times have group contributors around the world in unique time zones a variety of the time. You need an ERP device this is cellular pleasant and that may be accessed well regardless of in where you are. Having a cellular-pleasant ERP device can in addition boom the productiveness of your group, letting group contributor’s paintings from cellular gadgets consisting of smartphones and tablets. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made operating from domestic a famous desire for lots agencies and in case you locate that your logo is higher with far-flung paintings, you`ll want to first make sure that you have the proper software program talents earlier than sending your group of workers out of the office.

Axolon is a simple cloud-based ERP solution Dubai helps order and inventory management software that helps B2B and B2C businesses manage their inventory and sales orders. We are experts at integrating different client systems and synchronizing them with third-party apps.

[jin0]

Chapter 1 : Another royal celebration and a few mishaps

Summary : You and Steve had a complicated relationship. He was the Prince and you were the Knight, it seemed simple. Entirely professional, nothing like the movies. But when the lines blurred to the point of disappearing, the movies and fairytales started to seem a little more realistic.

Warnings : 18+, MDI, angst, smut, dirty talk, pet names, power dynamic, modern royal au,

Pairing : Prince to King!Steve x Knight!Reader

A/N : this was inspired by a conversation that i had with @becca-e-barnes (who entertains so many of my weird thots honestly) and honestly I'm so fucking happy that i get to share it ??? now this was mostly written while i was in the train going or coming back from school so all errors are mine !!! also english is not my first language and im still improving so hopefully I'll get to learn through feedback !!

Knight In Shining Armor Masterlist

_________________________________________

Ah, the sweet feeling of a new day beginning could never be outmatched. The soft and comforting morning air, flowing through any kinds of opening and gracing everyone around as a sign of greetings for the new day, the delicate morning dew on the green grass, freshly cut by the gardening team, the sunlight shining through the blinds and softly reflecting on the faces of the people living inside the building. This last part was the best, the sunlight. So warm and soft, enveloping everything in sight in a golden aura and just like the wind, greeting the world for the new day. He loved it, it reminded him of you.

These kinds of morning were the best for Steve, he would spend as much time possible basking in the feeling, a smile on his face. The smile was never because of the women he had in his bed that morning, no. They were too insignificant for him to feel this happy to have them around. He couldn’t even remember her name but this was a common thing. Once he was done he kept them around but that was his way of saying sorry for not really caring about them. Or at least, not as much and as long as they definitely wished.

Now, the reason of his smile was a woman. One that he could already feel approaching, her burning anger sending tingles up his spine. He always had a very good hearing and he could hear the whispers and rushing feet, moving out of the way as you were passing through. You were probably pissed already, but could he really blame you ? This was not the kinds of morning you signed up for when you accepted the job. A prodigy like you, trained by the best of the best, being wasted on this. That would make him angry too if he was in your position. But he wasn’t, and he enjoyed the attention you gave him. So he kept going, playing the same trick every other morning and never truly getting bored. That was another upside to this. The man could not keep a hobby or any interest for more than a week, but this ? He kept it going for a few years now. Four, to be exact. Because for four years, he craved the reactions you would give him. Call him childish, he couldn’t care less. He was absolutely fine with it. By the time he could get you to react he was totally fine.

He was still fake sleeping when he heard it clearly, the sound of your heavy boots hitting the floor, oh you were definitely not happy. Even better. You would be giving him your best expressions. Should he be feeling guilty for enjoying the way he would rile you up this much ? Definitely. Would he ever ? Not yet, not when you were still entertaining his antics.

Before he could even start imagining the expression on your face, you cut him in his train of thoughts by showing your beautiful face to him. His eyes were closed but he knew you were beautiful. You always were when you were angry. Even more when you were angry at him.

The sound of your shoes hitting the floor, the fabric of your tactical suit rubbing as you got closer to his bed, he was paying attention to every detail about you, completely forgetting that he had a complete different woman besides him.

When you ripped the cover off of his body, uncovering the two naked bodies, you had passed the point in your relationship at which you were embarrassed by seeing him like that. It happened so much at this point, you probably had seen him naked more times than you had seen yourself.

“Get up.”

Ah, your beautiful voice. Never sounded so sweet, sweet like honey.

He needed to keep up the act. If he didn’t where was the fun ? He started squirming slightly, groaning in his ‘sleep’ as he slowly opened his eyes and raised them to your face. You looked about ready to throw him out the window and he would probably enjoy seeing you try.

“Steven Grant Rogers, I know you’re not asleep so let’s speed this shit up. Get out of bed and go take a fucking shower while a take care of the girl.”

A smile spreads on his face and he finally drops the act. He gets up and stands at his full height, looking down on you with a smirk. Watching how he was towering over you, all smug and proud of himself, made you even more annoyed clearly. God, you wanted to trip him so bad, maybe that would teach him.

He stared at you with a smile, taking in your facial expression and your features. This adorable face of yours that he could never get bored of was what made his mornings so interesting, and it had been for the past years now. Again, childish. But he didn’t care.

He leaned down, delicately taking her jaw in his palm to tilt your head to the side and slowly kiss your cheek.

“Thank you princess, you really are my knight in shining armor.” His voice was marked by the hours of sleep, deep and sinful

“Yeah, yeah, run along before I decide to commit treason against the crown and choke you with my bare hands.” You hissed, throwing him a glare and slapping his hands

He smiled and walked to the bathroom. He already knew that in less than five minutes, the girl that had warmed his bed would be gone. He could already hear her argue that she wanted to stay, they all did. That was his talent, making them feel like Cinderella for a night before having someone, you, send them on their way like they were the rats.

He took a well needed shower to get rid of the smell of sex and once done, stepped out, a towel wrapped around his hips. He sat on the edge of his bed and saw you enter the room again, the girl was probably difficult, you had to get help from other guards.

You walked up to him and forcefully grabbed his jaw.

“Stop. Making. Me. Throw. Out. Random. Women. Every. Fucking. Morning. Steven.” You commanded, face twisted in annoyance

Each word was separated and punctuated by you violently flicking his forehead. He simply chuckled at your way of punishing him. Despite basically having the green light to kick his ass from the Queen and King themselves, you never really did. Hierarchy and all that. He was the Crown Prince after all.

You rolled your eyes and prepared to leave when he grabbed your waist to keep you in place and slowly pulled you between his thighs.

“Is it really so bad ? Does it bother you that much that I enjoy the company of women ?” Said the man, faking Innocence and sadness with a pout

You let out a sigh of exasperation, again with this.

“I could not care less if you slept with the entire country Steve." You affirmed, eyes full of indifference and a little bit of disgust. "My problem is with having to wake up extra early because at least three times a week, for the past four years I’ve had to make sure that no unknown women stayed in the castle and was seen by the Queen or the King.”

“I never asked you to play babysitter, you can stop if it bothers you so much.” He countered, still smiling, amused by the situation and how common this exact conversation was.

“Yeah ? And have you find another way of bothering my peace every morning ? No thanks." You dropped the clothes you had been gathering before coming up to him and standing in front if his face. "Also, you fucking pea brained bimbo, I don’t have the choice. It might not be your request, but the King was clear : protect him at all time. That includes, protecting you from the Queen chasing you with a broom because she’s sick of her son trying to test out the sexual capacities of everyone around.”

This made him laugh. You always had those funny metaphors about getting chased by someone with a random object. You really were the highlight of his morning.

He pulled you a little closer to his naked body and stuffed his nose in your belly. He loved doing that, smelling your warm skin. He was always really touchy abd overtime it became normal for you. You wouldn't respond in a particularly affectionate manner but he didn't mind. By the time you were allowing him in your space, he was good.

“I’m clearly not testing everyone if I haven’t had a go at you yet. But maybe I could squeeze you in my cue ? You know ? As a thank you for the babysitting and all.”

You narrowed your eyes at the man, studying his facial expression before smiling. You leaned down and softly grabbed his jaw again, but with both your hands this time, your thumbs softly rubbing his jawline. The closeness between both your faces made it easy for him to feel your breath against his lips. He could feet the bed dip as you placed your knee again his thigh, practically straddling it.

“The day I sleep with you Rogers, I hope I get struck by lightning. Because, there is no way in Hell that I’m letting you turn me into one of your fucking conquests. Now get ready, we’ve got stuff to do today.”

He watched you leave, paying careful attention to the way your hips swayed away from him and despite the charcoal black tactical suit, he could clearly see every curve of your body, he had studied them multiple times before. Fuck. He would need to jump in the shower again.

~

That morning was so common now that most people stopped asking questions. Even the new employees knew what was going on before they started on the job. That was how your relationship with Steve worked. Every day, you made sure to protect both his body and his reputation, that was you job as head of the guard for the Prince of the Kingdom of America.

When you started you remember how polite you tried to be when he would come wake you up to get ride of these temporarily desired women that refused to leave his bed. If the past version of you could see the way things were now, she probably would’ve handed her resignation letter. You were deemed a prodigy by the people, first of you group, youngest and fastest learner. Your career was truly marked by the training you received from the greatest warriors in the kingdom and even the world. You mentor, Okoye, had taken extra measures to make you the most efficient knight there was. She already made fun of you for being taken as a babysitter by a grown man, one that was supposed to become the king, in the near future.

As usual, you waited for him to be done getting ready in front of his room. When he stepped out and smiled at you, you rolled your eyes. He was not going to soften you with his pretty white teeth and beautiful face.

You started walking down the halls, him following closely. The people saluted politely has he passed, responding with a smile. He looked very different in contrast to you and your usual soldier face. Most knew that it was probably due to him. You were very easy to talk to and outgoing with the staff, outside of work.

He observed the activity around him and finally noticed how everyone seemed to be busier than usual.

“What’s going on ? Why is everyone in such a rush today ?”

You looked at him with your classic ‘are you kidding me’ expression.

“I knew you would forget…” you sighed before searching through your phone and raising it in front of his face. “Today’s your parent's wedding anniversary. They’re having a party with friends and family to celebrate. They’ve crossed the twenty-fifth years.”

He tilted his head to the side looking at your phone, thinking. He wasn’t going to lie, seeing the relationship between his parents made him both happy and envious. He often wondered if he would have it with anyone, ever. He was expected to, as the only prince of the royal couple but he wanted love out of this, not some fancy contract between him and someone he didn’t love or care for.

He was also not going to shy away from the fact that most times, he thought of you as a queen besides him. You were, after all, the only one he spent enough time with to consider a relationship. Now, seeing how he enjoyed driving you up the wall, the probability of you seeing him as a possible suitor was slim.

“They want you there, obviously, and they invited some of your friends so that you don’t run off right when the party starts.” You added, putting your phone back

“Yeah, they might want to try something a little more efficient to keep me in place, like you for example ! Oh but I forgot, you don’t go to the royal parties, they bore you.” He said, tone filled with sarcasm

You smiled at him, putting your hands on his shoulders.

“Not this time actually. The queen invited Koye, Wanda and Nakiya are coming and so are a few others of my friends. Not only am I going, but I have the three next days off, meaning that I get to actually enjoy myself for once. So I guess I’ll see you there Rogers.”

He watched you strut away for him, hips swigging from side to side and tempting him to follow you and do something he'd been thinking about for months. Looks like he might actually not disappear this evening.

~

As the party started, Steve quickly joined his friends, which all huddle together at a table. The conversation and congratulations were rigging in the room but his focus was not on any of that. What interested him right now was you, he waited for you.

Half his brain was convinced you were joking when you said you would be there but the other part was hopefully. He had been to many of those gatherings and he couldn’t remember seeing you there and enjoying yourself. Most of the time you avoided them like the plague but when you came it was because the King wanted you to manage the guards and make sure his son stayed in place.

His thoughts were cut short by the door opening and you walking in. That’s when his mind went completely blank. Here you were, in a silk dress that cut all the way up to you thigh, showing off your gorgeous legs. It looked absolutely magnificent, covering your body so thinly, it looked it was painted on you.

He had never been one to lose control but, right now ? He never wanted to have legs wrapped around his waist that much, and yours looked like a perfect fit. You, who always seemed to hide you body behind your knight equipment, seemed to be in the mood to reveal more.

He watched with extra focus as the corset you wore accentuated the curve of your breast and pushed it up. His mouth watered at the thought of biting into them and leaving marks of his teeth, claiming marks that he wanted to leave over as much skin as you would allow him. His eyes finally raised up to your face and the shock was evident on his own as he watched the genuine smile that adorned it. This wasn’t the fake smiles that you would give him when he was being a little shit. This was the kind of smile you couldn’t control, the kind that would show all your teeth and even your gums. This was the smile that would bring any man to his knees, exactly like it was doing for him right now.

“You good there buddy ?”

His head snapped to his left as he noticed the amused expression on his friend and fellow prince, Samuel Wilson, also known as Prince Sam. Steve smiled weakly, sneaking glances in your direction, hoping you would notice him and come his way.

Sam noticed his friend’s behavior and smiled.

“Ah, finally love-struck Stevie ? Did the knight finally get the prince ?”

The blond prince scoffed before taking a sip of his drink.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about Wilson. But since you seem to know so much, do tell.” Said the man, amused and slightly curious

“You’re into the little knight that follows you everywhere and you've never had to deal with the fact that she's pretty popular around here. Until now, you feel a little threatened buddy ?” Mocked Sam, still smiling about the whole situation

Steve simply looked at him with narrowed eyes, as if he had just said the weirdest things ever.

“Don’t look at me like that Rogers ! This girl has you squirming in the palm of her hand , and you won’t be denying it for long ! Like seriously, do you even notice the way you behave when she’s around ? I bet you haven’t and if you did you didn’t have the balls to accept it." The small laugh coming from Sam was annoying Steve a little but he kept quiet. "I swear man, think about it for a second. The way you’re usually in the worst mood when she’s not around ? And the way you follow her like a puppy ? You got to have your hands on that girl at all fucking times dude ! Which is ironic because you hate people touching you most of the time.”

Steve didn’t even want to waste time denying because one, Sam was right and he knew it, two, he was simply not paying attention. Not when he heard you laugh with your friends from the guard. He recognized Okoye, Natasha, Wanda and her husband Vision, and he definitely recognized her brother that seemed to be too really comfortable with you. Yeah, very comfortable clearly seeing as the man had his arms around your waist from behind, pressing your backside against his chest.

Sam watched attentively as his friend started to assassinate the white haired male from afar. He definitely would be spilling everything to Bucky later that night, he would love to hear about his best friend’s antics. Or, he would keep it all to himself and watch things unravel in front of him. That would be funny too.

~

As the night kept going, Steve felt more and more annoyed. His eyes never left you, watching you dance and laugh and drink with the other man. You looked like you were enjoying yourself, not like you were with him. Here you were free, laughing and smiling genuinely, not caring about your duties or his. That was the real you. The version that only your friends could get.

Like many nights, he was invited by different women to disappear into his room and share his bed but tonight was not going to be the jackpot for anyone because the Prince was in a mood and you didn’t seem to care. It was your job to care but you weren’t, not tonight. Not when you were having so much fun away, from him.

His reaction, like all the others, was childish, he knew it. He had no right to claim ownership over you and your right to have fun. But he still did it, because he wanted to. And since he wanted to, he was going to.

He stood up from his chair and walked up to you, the others guests watching him and moving out of his way. When he reached you, he grabbed you by the arm and spun you around. He expected you to protest but you didn’t, instead you smiled and pulled him closer to you, putting your warm palm again his cheek. You rubbed his jaw muscle with you thumb, still smiling at him.

“Stevie, don’t clench you jaw like that, it’s going to look like a triangle one day.” You mused, eyes soft on him

The words you said sounded so distant to him, he couldn’t really focus on them. He was practically unable to hear the music around the room too. His entire focus was on the pet name you used, ‘Stevie’. Most his very close friends and his parents called him that, but hearing it from you ? That threw his mind out of his head. The sound of his nickname and not your usual use of his family name had him dreaming awake, he wanted to hear it more. He needed to hear more.

And the feeling on your heated palm against his skin was so familiar but new at the same time. He was used to you touching him but this time, it made him dizzy, he needed more. He found himself nuzzling to your skin and letting it travel up to his forehead, checking if he was fine. He probably hadn’t noticed how warm his own skin was, heated up by the alcohol consumption and the slight blush that had made his way to his cheeks. He sighed, completely forgetting the thing he had originally came here for.

“I wanna go, princess. Can you take me ?” Pleaded the prince, a pout visible on his face

You could hear the slurring in his words, he was a little tipsy, just like you, but it made him needy. Poor baby, you thought.

You wrapped your fingers around his forearm, nodding your head and turning to your friends and smiling weakly. They had been watching carefully as the interaction proceeded. It was as if they weren’t even there. That was common when both of you were together.

You said your goodbyes and signaled to one of the guards to warn the royal couple of your departure. They didn’t need to be warned, they knew. They had been watching too, with amused smiles on their faces. Their son was so easy to read.

When you stepped out of the ballroom, Steve stopped you in your track and grabbed your chin with his fingers. His eyes travel around your face, studying it with care. Your plumb lips, slightly glossy eyes and expended pupils, the way you were batting your lashes up at him and smiling slightly. Fuck, you looked absolutely magnificent and he wasn’t going to ignore the way he already felt his cock stiffen in his slacks.

“You’re okay Stevie ? Do you need me to call Doctor Cho for you ?”

The way you had grabbed his hand in both yours gave him a clear depiction of the size difference between both your hands. Yours were so much smaller than his, he was 6.5 feet after all, and you were clearly not, reaching high enough to face his chest, but not more, even in heels.

He shook his head and let you drag him back to his room still holding his hand. His watched ever step you took, carefully admiring the outline of your ass through the dress. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. He was so uncomfortable in his pants right now, and you seemed absolutely clueless. Clueless to the state you had him in.

Once you both reached his room, you let him in and followed before closing the door carefully. Your head was already pounding a little and it would probably be worse tomorrow. But you had to take care of the Prince first, like the good little knight you were.

You watched attentively while he started undressing. You probably should’ve adverted your eyes but you didn’t, you couldn’t, not when you were not sober enough to push away your thoughts. Every muscle on his body moving under your gaze, his chest was absolutely divine, and his height was making your mind do backflips. Sometimes you forgot how he towered over you and how he could absolutely crush you if he wanted too. And God, did you want him to. The idea of feeling his weight on you, feeling him everywhere inside you, his body filing you up and making you so full, fuller than you would’ve dreamt of being. That was what Steve Rogers did to you.

You were so lost in your thoughts that you hadn’t noticed how he was done and had walked up to you, a smug smile on his face.

“You okay there doll ? You look a little flushed right now, might want to spend the night here.” Asked the man, eyes scanning you body and reactions

You shook your head to empty it and looked up at him smiling.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. You should go to bed, you’re exhausted.”

Before you could even try to leave the room, he had you kept in place between his arms, his lips on yours. You were stunned but not for long because your body responded for you. You parted your lips and let him shove his tongue in your mouth. The little whimpers you let out caught both of you off guard, but he didn’t give you time to process, preferring to simply keep going. The heat that travel to your core could be felt by the both of you as you started rubbing your thighs together to relieve yourself. You didn’t want to feel to eager but, god did you want to have him inside you right now.

The teasing touch he would give your body, trying to grope as much of you as possible and letting his hands travel from the back of your scalp, to your neck, to your breast, you ribs and your waist, proceeding with your hips, your ass and finally finishing behind your thighs. You couldn’t process anything, all you could do was try and reciprocate the attention by keeping your palm on his bulge and palming it slowly. You knew it was arousing him more as you could practically feel the tip pf his cock poking again your palm and begging you silently for more. His groans against your skin as his lips traveled lower and lower simply pushed you to continue.

You could feel his fingers against you back, traveling down to untie your corset and then you dress before letting it pool down at your feet.

He dropped to his knees and looked at you. He was going absolutely crazy, his mind was screaming a thousand and one different things at him, begging to touch you in various ways that all seemed very pleasing but for now he only truly wanted to taste you.

“Fuck, doll… Look at you, so beautiful… You hid all of this from me for so long…”

He rubbed his nose against your belly, rubbing his palms up and down your legs and groping handfuls of your ass, massaging it vigorously. You let out a little scream when he flipped you over his shoulder and stood up. Another tiny scream escaped your lips as you felt him take a bite out of your ass before kissing the area and rubbing his nose against it. He walked to the bed and dropped you on the edge of it. He climbed over you to admire your body.

He had dreamt of seeing you like this, naked and all flushed for him. You lips were parted, breathing in tiny gasps that travel straight to his cock, you were breathing a little heavily and he could see your breast practically begging to be freed from your bra. And the way you were rubbing your thighs together ? He watched you do, trying to please yourself, begging for relief as the slick coating your panties started running down your thighs.

He bit his lips in anticipation, he had never been this aroused before. This vision was doing things to his mind and self control. He could feel the head of his cock poking his pants and wetting it with pre-cum. With his thumb, he pushed your panties to the side and gather your wetness on it before spreading it over his lips. You watched with hooded eyes as he licked them sensually. You understood now, why so many were raving about a night with him. He hadn’t touched you yet but you were already on the verge of the cliff, begging him to touch you more.

“God, I knew you would taste so sweet. Like a jar of honey just waiting for the bees to come and feast on you.”

The smiled that he flashed in you direction had you whimpering and hiding your face in the pillows surrounding you. You felt so embarrassed by the things a simple smile did to you. You couldn’t control the way your pussy was gushing, dripping wetter and wetter each second. All that because of a fancy smile. That fucking smile.

Steve wasted no time as he climbed off the bed and sunk to his knees, pulling you a little closer and wrapping your legs over his shoulders. He felt like a starved beast, seeing how soaked your panties were, all that for him only.

“Sorry for your panties princess, I’ll buy you more later.” Promised the blond man, eager to get a taste of you

You didn’t have the time to be confused, he was already ripping your underwear of your body. Displays of strength had never really done anything to you but this ? This sent another wave of heat down your core and he noticed.

“You like that huh princess ? When I tear up your stuff ? I promise you, I’ll tear up as much shit as you want.”

He stared at your center, admiring it. It was so pretty, all wet and heated, waiting to be tasted. How could he refrain ?

His started kissing your inner thighs, enjoying the way you would tremble every time he would get closer to your dripping cunt. He let him lips travel a little higher each second, grazing his teeth against your skin biting occasionally. He was feeding on the moans that you would let out, weakly begging for him to do more things to you.

The moment you felt his tongue lap at your pussy, you’re hands flew to his hair and gripped on them roughly. He smiled against you and started swirling his tongue between your folds, teasing your clit.

You were restless, this man was turning you into a moaning mess. The pleasure was so intense already, you felt embarrassed for responding that easily but he was more than pleased with your response. You were letting lose against him, letting him take care of you, please you, feast on you. He could not be more proud.

He kept on feasting on you, devouring your pussy like a starved man being served his favorite meal, one that he had dreamed about for years. He was groaning against your clit, sending vibrations uo to your core and letting your folds flood his mouth with your juices.

“S-Steve… Please…”

He knew what you were begging for. You were a good girl, always followed the rules and orders you were given. The way your pussy was gushing again his lips, your fingers tightly gripping at the roots of his hair and letting your grind against his face. You were close, you were about to cum.

He felt you try and squirm away from him. You were about to cum and you tried to run ? Absolutely not. You, princess, were not going to take his meal away from him. He circled your thighs with his arms and kept you in place with his hands gripping tightly at your flesh.

You didn’t have to wait further before being consumed by your orgasm. You mind went blank, your back arching and your eyes rolling to the back of your head. You couldn’t see or hear anything, simply little dots of light clouding your vision. A string of profanities escaped you as you let yourself sink into the pleasure, Steve still drinking from your juices and not letting a single drop escape him.

You were so out of it, you didn’t notice him climb back on the bed and straddle you before he forcefully gripped you jaw and lifted you up effortlessly to kiss you once more. You could feel yourself get more and more aroused as you tasted your own slick in his mouth.

He detached himself from you and you saw the way he was smiling, eyes dark with desire for more.

“You taste that, sweetheart ? That’s you, you taste how sweet you are ?” He groaned against your lips

You breathed loudly biting back a moan. His thumb was quick to pull your lip out of your teeth and sink into your mouth. He watched how you started sucking on his finger, god, you really were good. So good and obedient.

The primal urges that took over his body were going more and more restless. He had felt how tight you were with his tongue, he needed to feel it around his cock. Cock that he had neglected a little, finally noticing how painfully hard he was. The way your body managed to make him forget his own pleasure was absolutely incredible.

He watched you suck on him and firmly gripped on his bulge before shoving his hands down his pants and feeling himself up.

“Look at you sucking my thumb so well. So good for me, if you could see yourself.”

The praise had you grip on his wrist lightly, still sucking his thumb and letting you tongue swirl around it. You were giving him a taste of what it would feel like to have your lips around his cock and the temptations was high. He debated having you on your knees choking on him but that’s not what he wanted now. He knew you wanted to reciprocate the pleasure he gave you moments ago but he didn’t want you too, not yet. For now he simply let you enjoy yourself as he fisted his length in his closed fist.

You watched him pump himself you, pre-cum dripping from his tip and coating his hand. His hips were thrusting forward, fucking his own hand in an attempt to prepare himself mentally for you. That’s the impact you had on him. He needed to prepare himself for you, him who had slept with so many different women and had never really felt much need to wait or to put himself in the mindset for them.

He felt his own high get closer and closer before he let his cum shoot out of his cock and onto your chest. Let out a groan of pleasure, feeling himself pulsate against his palm still not fully done.

He was still breathing hard, hooded eyes scanning over you as you innocently looked in his eyes. You gathered some of his cum from between your breast before you let your fingers enter your mouth, tasting his seed with eagerness.

“God fucking dammit, doll…. You want my cock in your mouth that bad ? You want to feel me fuck your throat ? That’s what you want ?” He leaned down and pecked you lips sweetly, caressing your cheek and soothing the wave of pleasure that rushed through your body. “I’ll give it too you later, you’ll have all the time you want to enjoy yourself baby.”

You nodded automatically, letting a smile form on his face. You were so fucking good, he couldn’t get enough.

He let his hand fall around your waist and creep up to you back, undoing your bra and finally seeing the way your tits pooled out of it. God, you were so full everywhere. He couldn’t help but imagine how full you would be if you were pregnant. Tits swollen and full of milk. Just thinking about it drove him crazy. And even more when he thought of said pregnancy being the result of his work on you. Your body and his forming a little life together. He was probably jumping a thousand steps here but no one could judge him for the things he dreamt of. He could dream what he wanted after all.

“Stevie ?”

He was snapped out of his thoughts by your small voice calling out for him. His eyes dropped to you and smiled when he saw your curious and eager eyes on him.

“You’re so good, I don’t even know what to do with you little knight. You’ll have to decide for me, can you do that ? Use your big girl words and tell me what you want ?”

He watched with amusement as you struggled to gather the courage to say what you wanted. You were so sweet, that was a complete 180 compared to your usual professional demeanor.

“I- I want to feel you… Inside me… Please your highness.”

Oh fuck. That was it. You did it. You had broken his brain. He had been used to hearing those particular words from other women and despite making him a little proud, it never made him feel like that. He was entirely ready to do the nastiest things that came to mind when he looked at you.

“Princess you have no idea what I’m about to do to you. I’ll have you so fucking full of me, you’ll be feeling me for weeks. You want that don’t you ? To feel my fat cock inside your tight little pussy for days ? Feel my cum run down your thighs ?” He kept asking but truly, he already knew your answer

You nodded so fast that you started to feel dizzier than you already were. And how could he ignore your desires when you were so good to him ?

He unceremoniously parted your legs open and positioned himself and your entrance. You raised yourself slightly, leaning on your elbows and watching how the head of him length poked your entrance before burying itself in it.

You let out a gasp and dropped on your back, he wasn’t kidding when he said you would be full of him for weeks. You could already feel yourself being split in two and he was seemingly getting bigger inside you. This man was driving you insane already but your thoughts were leaving you faster and faster.

He took his time to let you feel him fully and get used to it before pulling out and thrusting back into your tight cunt. Your lips parted an obscene moan left your throat. Steve leaned down, groaning against your ear.

“Fuck, doll… You feel that ? The way you’re squeezing my cock ? You’re so fucking dreamy princess, milking me dry.”

He didn’t waste anymore time, pounding into you with everything he had. All these years of jerking off in the shower after you would come and wake him up, all these little things you did that made him feel completely stupid, only able to think of obscenities and you. All that he was letting it out on you he fucked you like he was on a life or death mission.

Your body was jerking back and forth, rocking with the strength of his thrusts. Your wet pussy was coating his cock, dripping against his pelvis and smearing your juices on his lower abdomen and letting obscene the noises of his balls slamming against you.

He watched as your breasts followed the motion of your body and raised one of his hands from you ass to grip onto one of them. He kept his face close to your, burying it in between your boobs to nibble on your skin, living slightly bite larks around your nipples. His trust slowed down but he wasn’t holding back on the strength. He wanted to enjoy every second of being inside you.

“Ahh... F-Fuck Stevie please… Give me more… Please your highness… I wanna feel you more…”

He raised himself away from your body, still holding on your tits as he picked the pace back up. He was pounding into you, stretching you out as he felt himself get bigger with each moans you released. You were such a mess under him, moaning a begging for his cock as if it was the only thing you knew. The way you moaned his name like a mantra and the only thing running through your mind.

He was cooing at you, watching the state he was leaving you in. God, he never felt this amount of pride and animalistic need to fuck someone like this before. He kept pounding into you with vigor before getting an idea.

You felt him slow down and whined loudly to express your displeasure, which only made him chuckled, amused by your behavior and desperation.

“Don’t worry little knight, I’m not going anywhere, and this cock is not leaving your pussy until I’ve made you cum a few times.”

You nodded slowly letting him do what he wanted with you. He flipped you over on your front and changed position to make you face the mirror in the room. He gripped your neck gently, forcing you up. You felt his cock enter you again and your eyes rolled back instantly, you’re orgasm was close.

One of his hand moved your face to face the mirror so that you could see what he saw, how absolutely ethereal you looked, all fucked out and flushed.

“You see that doll ? You see what you looked like ? All stupid, gushing over my fat cock. You’re dripping over me, creaming all over me, like a good girl.”

Each word was accentuated with his thrusts again your ass. You could feel his body entirely covering you and keeping you in place. The way he looked as he plowed into your pussy, letting the room fill with the sound of your moans, his groans and skin slapping, was absolutely mind numbing. The way he kept on violently slamming against the perfect spot inside you was already too much but the moment he let one of his hand fall and rub your clit had you screaming his name shamelessly.

God, now you understood why so many rushed to have a night with him. He was absolutely mind blowing.

“P-Please Stevie, please ! L-Let me cum !” You begged.

“Awww, you can cum sweetheart, I’m not letting you go before you’re done. Cream on my cock princess, make a mess.”

He watched you unfold in his arms, cumming over his length and gripping him tighter than you were already. This was all it took for him to follow closely. He took his time enjoying your body and letting you do the same. You dropped on the bad, face stuffed in the pillows as all strength finally left you. When you felt him thrust into your cunt, pushing his own cum back into you, letting the primal urges in him act.

As you softly whimpered against the bedsheets, he leaned down against you and kissed the back of your neck tenderly.

“I’m not done with you tonight doll, I’m going to fuck you over all the furniture in the room. I’ll have you cumming so much, the only thing you’ll remember is my name.”

~

And like the good man he was, Steven Grant Rogers kept his word. You had been propped up against the wall, and fucked with your leg raised high, bent over the bathroom sink and in the shower. He made sure to have you as much as possible, so much that you had cried tears of pleasure.

When you woke up, you’re mind was completely blank of the previous night. All you knew was that the sun was already up and reflecting against you skin, but also that something was poking your backside.

You groaned and rubbed you eyes, scanning over the room. This wasn’t your room, this was Steve’s room. And you were naked in it. In his bed.

You started to connect the dots and your previously blissfully ignorant mind started to panic. What the fuck were you doing there ? You got up so fast that you felt whiplash. You tried to sooth the temporary dizziness when an arm snaked around your waist and pulled you back again the mattress and against the chest of the man you were terrified to see.

“Baby, stop squirming I wanna cuddle…”

Fuck. You were in so much trouble.

[commonwealthoccurences]

P!Companions React: Helping A Dissociating Sole

Request: “how about a platonic companions help out a sole survivor who struggles w dissociation? specifically derealization and disconnect from what's going on around them? love love love your work ^v^”

Note: All of the tactics I’ve described here are from my own personal experiences with derealization and methods that I, or other people, have used to ground me! Please keep in mind that they might not work for everybody (and always get permission from the person dissociating first!!)

Cait:

When Cait found out that Sole had a strong reaction, i.e. flinching away from, the harsh smell of the strong, chemically soap they used to scrub off the worst of the filthiest days of being in the Commonwealth, she made a mental note to carry it on her at all times. Whenever Sole told her they’re struggling to stay connected, Cait would wait until the topic dropped and whip out the bar of soap, sticking it under their nose and hoping it would help. Most of the time, the strong smell would yank Sole back to reality, even if just for a little bit.

Curie:

Through trial and error, Curie found the best she could do to help Sole out was squeezing at their arms and shoulders, providing a grounding sensory experience. She’s more than willing to sit in front of Sole and firmly squeeze different parts of their arms until it helps or they wave her off.

Danse:

Danse is the least prepared to help in this situation; the Brotherhood is very much of the view that you do not talk about these things. But if he can be of help, he’s willing to try. Tatos, a common and acridly acidic food, seem to do the trick more often than not. Danse ends up carrying several tatos on his person at all times, to hand over to Sole whenever they ask.

Deacon:

Ever the talker, that’s the first thing that Deacon can think of to help. If they’re safe to do so, he gives them a simple task; cooking, cleaning their weapon, etc (something they’ve done a million times before), and asks them to give him a step-by-step in the present tense. “I’m chopping the fruit,” “I’m cleaning the barrel with oil.” Sometimes this helps Sole feel more connected to their actions.

Gage:

Gage isn’t exactly fantastic at knowing how to help other people; oftentimes, before Sole, that’s the exact opposite of what he was supposed to do. But he does know who’ll help; Dogmeat. Whenever Sole is struggling, he calls Dogmeat over to lay over their lap, lick at their hands, and give tactile sensation by encouraging them to pet his rough fur. Dogmeat’s more than happy to have an excuse to cuddle!

Haylen:

Unexplainably, she’s an expert at this sort of stuff. She has her very own tea recipe, a strong, slightly bitter brew, to make to ground people who are dissociating. She makes Sole drink it slowly while explaining to her what they’ve done so far that day.

Hancock:

Admittedly, Hancock isn’t the best at preventing dissociation. The ghoul spends practically all his time trying to disconnect from reality himself. He tries his best, as he always does, and attempts to keep them engaged in conversation, interacting with the world around them and experiencing sensation.

MacCready:

Mac can be a fan of tough love, more often than one would think. He cares for Sole, but dissociating in the middle of the Wasteland is dangerous. His go to tactic is, if they’re around water, to dunk them in the nearest source. The colder the better. He’ll instruct them into rivers and pods once they’re cleared of danger, or carry a bucket of water to them if he needs and dump it over their head.

Nick:

Nick, similarly to Curie, sticks with physical sensations, but has a slightly different tactic. Once they’re somewhere safe, he sits with them (usually with something else to preoccupy him unless they’re in an extremely bad state) and squeezes their hand, them squeezing back in turn. This can be a hit or miss, but it’s the most convenient and subtle tactic he he has.

Piper:

Once Piper is sure Sole’s comfortable with it and is willing to treat it as such, she encourages Nat to treat it like a game. Without hurting Sole, try to figure out what brings them back to Earth. With Nat in on it, the sisters are moving around their small home, finding things that might be strong enough to trigger a sensory response to help Sole. Smells, tastes, you name it. The most successful result of this tactic was a horribly cooked concoction of the salty-slimy Mirelurk meat atop toast slathered in mashed tato. It was so strong, Sole’s eyes were watering when the mixture was a few feet away.

Preston:

Preston’s too gentle of a soul to resort to Piper’s tactics, unless absolutely necessary, and instead chooses something similar to Gage and Mac. He brings them to the river that runs through Sanctuary, knowing the water will provide a reliable sensation, and encourages Dogmeat to jump in, too.

X6-88:

X6 knows exactly what to do; he carries an Institute version of icy-hot on him, and whenever Sole needs, he slathers it on a strip of cloth and wraps it around their wrists. The temperature fluctuation brings them back down to Earth quite reliably.

[soulmate-game]

Okay, I’m not sure if what I was trying to say in my last post was said very well.

I completely understand the tagging situation from the First Wave with the DC fans. That’s discourse that is mostly solved and we can’t do anything about those who are forever gonna be bitter or lazy. I’m not talking about that stuff.

The stuff I want to prevent/limit is the hate that comes after our fandom deliberately. And yes, I know I can’t stop it. None of us can stop bitter, antagonistic people from being bitter and antagonistic. None of us can stop people who just want to be angry.

I’m not talking about stopping them, though.

I’m talking about what we can do to protect ourselves as creators and consumers in this fandom. As people who love and appreciate what the creations and people in this fandom have to offer. In simplistic form, I’m saying we need to learn how to shield ourselves from bullies. And there are methods we can use to make ourselves less of a target to the people who go after us, and methods to cut their attacks off short. None of these methods are fool-proof, but they will work to filter out a good majority of the shit we would otherwise be showered by, like a big umbrella against Assholery. Sure, the wind might still blow some in our face and we might splash in a puddle or two by accident, but at least we aren’t soaked.

So let me list the various things that can help you shield yourself from hate/harassment/antis who might just be out to get you.

1) leave the fandom.

The most effective, but least attractive method possible. This is limited to being a last ditch effort, if things have just gotten too hard to handle. I’m covering it first though, because we have to acknowledge that it is a viable method. If you feel trapped, hated, bullied, I’m sure all of us in this fandom would prefer you take a break and leave us for a while in the sake of your own health and safety then stay where you are miserable. This is less of a problem for us though, because mostly this option is gonna be for fandoms where the discourse and attacks are internal. Maribat is largely a peaceful and supportive/healthy environment once you’re inside our little bubble, the main discourse comes from outside in. So let’s focus on the main point of this post— how to keep our bubble from popping.

2) Make it apparent right away that you are Unapologetic.

Whenever you post content or are approached by someone about the topic of your fandom, don’t you DARE ever apologize for liking what you like or posting unproblematic content. You need to make it clear right off the bat that you are not gonna be swayed, bullied, or shamed out of your fandom. Stand with pride and make it clear, but don’t be verbose about it. A simple “Don’t like, don’t read” is classic but sometimes if you’re posting/talking during a more confrontational period of the fandom, you need to up your game to reflect that. The funny thing is, people can easily be intimidated by swearing if it isn’t directed at them or clearly antagonistic. If you’re swearing in a joking, casual or even in a manner that shows you’re not taking yourself too seriously, people will usually avoid picking fights with you. For this, my favorite lines to use on my work include;

“Don’t like, I don’t fucking care. I fell down the rabbit hole.”

“Don’t bother reading if you’re not into this, this shit bitch-slapped me and dragged me along on it’s adventure.”

“I’m addicted to this fandom, don’t bother trying to save me. If it bothers you, I don’t give a fuck. Save yourselves.”

3) Don’t approach or interact

Unless someone comes at you first, never try to persuade someone away from hating us. That just makes you a target in an empty field, for the vultures to surround and gang up on. If someone approaches you with provocative but not overly insulting or intelligent language— I.e; trying to start a fight, vague insults not always relating to the fandom itself, trying to insult your character/judgement— do not respond. Delete the message, block the account, and surround yourself with fluffy good stuff to forget the wanna-be harasser. These people are often not brave enough to outright start a fight, and want you to get defensive first so they know the weak points in your armor to exploit. Defensive statements declare your own insecurities, don’t get defensive. It gives them a way to win without having to defend themselves or feel vulnerable— it’s like exploiting type differences in Pokémon. You wait for an unfamiliar Pokémon to expose it’s type, then snipe it with the moves it’s weak to. Then, you have a near sure-fire win even with under leveled Pokémon on your team.

Don’t be a proud Infernape that gets sniped by a weak-ass level 5 Piplup. We’re strong, don’t show them the chinks in our armor.

4) Have a support network. Even if they don’t know they are your support network.

The fandom as a whole serves this purpose, and this is mostly gonna be a tactic you use when the discourse is inside the fandom, but there can be uses for this in discourse from outside the fandom as well. If someone tries to act like they like your story/art “but...” they passive aggressively state things they “would prefer” or they try to make it sound like you made stupid mistakes (a tactic to make you insecure about yourself) instead of kindly pointing out errors or offering constructive criticism (ex: “you know you put your trigger list somewhere where it’s useless right? Love your story though.)—THESE ARE ALL PROVOCATIONS. They are trying to make you insecure so that you change things about yourself, your work, or jump through hoops to try to “make it up” to them when you did nothing wrong and there are no problems to fix. Do not fall for it! Instead, politely as possible, bring the issue into a public space where you feel safe/trust the people in that space to keep the bullshit from escalating. For me, I straight up explain my reasoning for the placement of my trigger list as if I’m advertising a particularly boring but important product that I’m selling, then offer places for them to bring the issue into a discussion with others. I send them to a discoed group or right here to my tumblr, and I immediately make the issue into a big discussion (do YOU think there is anything to change? Let’s ALL talk about it) so that I am no longer isolated and easy for them to harass. They might refuse to join the discussion and further try to pressure you, but do not cave. Merely say that a public discussion has been started, and if they are actually, legitimately concerned about the way you do things then they can debate it in a public setting. This way, you have back up. 9/10 people who try to target you this way will back off and never enter the conversation you started.

5) Do not fight back.

This sounds counterintuitive, but a lot of the time once discourse gets this bad, arguing/defending/ trying to prove your point only fuels their rage more. I have found that people hate very little in this world more than they hate being wrong. And people who hate being wrong will fight to the bitter death about their opinions, no matter how invalid or hurtful they are, in the favor of their blissful ignorance. Remove yourself from harmful discussions or those that seem to be going in circles as soon as possible, and try to surround yourself in your support group. Never let people make you feel stupid, your opinions illegitimate, or your likes/dislikes invalid or evil.

6) Try to learn how to recognize bullies in disguise

It’s too much for me to try to cover here, but you need to PLEASE look into how to spot gaslighting. Tactics of gaslighting are often used to attack others and try to make them feel like their own opinions are invalid or their mindset untrustworthy. People will often approach you in the guise of friendship/support/ “I am not into this, but...” and while this is not always a red flag, we have to keep our eyes open for any signs of this person or their approach being rooted in anything other than legitimate curiosity or kindness. Not all suggestions that say they are out of concern actually ARE. Keep an eye out for warning signs, and cut off interaction once things seem like they may lead to an argument or you being in a vulnerable position if you continue interacting.

(Brief mention of s**cide and threats in the section below)

7) If all else fails, BLOCK THEM.

No hesitation, we don’t need this shit. They make a second account? Block that too. Don’t respond, only take screenshots or reblog if it is directly harmful information that can/should be documented (words that encourage suicide, threats, insults that seem a little too specific for comfort) and give the evidence to someone you trust to look out for you. A therapist, a family member, or even the authorities if you deem that necessary. Just don’t handle it alone.

We are not responsible for other people’s actions, opinions, or anger. Take the steps to protect yourself instead of trying to reconcile. Sometimes, reconciliation isn’t an option. Both parties have to be willing to reconcile, and it is clear they have nothing in mind but hurting us. So raise your shields and protect yourself and your friends, we’re not gonna lose a war to petty jerks.